We are Family
by Zaxarus
Summary: This is the second part of my Mass effect Cycle about Logan Shepard and Rory Udina. It is the sequel to "Two Coins" and describes the events between ME1 and ME2.
1. Chapter 1 Bad Dreams

_**Author: This is the second part of my Cycle about the Spectres Logan Shepard and Rory Udina. The first part had been the story "Two Coins". For a short summary look there at the last page.**_

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_Here's what we call our golden rule  
Have faith in you and the things you do  
You won't go wrong  
This is our family Jewel_

"_We are family", written by __Bernard & Nile Rodgers_

_Originally performed by Sister Sledge_

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**Bad Dreams**

_Udina Estate - Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh – Earth – 7 years ago_

"_Mother please, she'll only be there this afternoon and I …," Cathleen Udina's voice died away as she saw the expression in her mother's face. The seventeen-year-old girl knew that her mother would do everything for her and she loved her deeply for that. But sometimes Anne-Mary Udina was simply unable to grasp the importance of Cathleen's wishes._

_The forty-one-year old heir of the Edinburgh branch of the Udina family presented herself to her surroundings as the two-fisted business woman she had to be to survive in the world of European Trade. Only at home, in the attendance of her children, did she allow her true self to be visible … but not today. Since days her mind had been on that really important meeting and she couldn't allow herself any distraction._

_Gently Anne-Mary looked at her daughter, standing in front of her with in this awful battered jeans and her equally outrageous sweatshirt. Her dark brown eyes, that reminded her of her deceased husband, had this pleading expression of a roe that normally got her everything, at least from her brother Rory and most often from her mother too. _

"_There will be other opportunities, darling. But today I really have not the time. I'm so sorry, but …"_

"_It is alright, Mom." Cathleen's voice trembled slightly, but after another look into her mother's face she forced a smile onto her lips and stepped forward to embrace her. "Really, Mom, it is alright. I know you would help me if possible." She placed a soft kiss on her mother's cheek and left the room. Watching her leave Anne-Mary sighed before she squared her shoulders and ordered herself to go to work again._

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_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – one month after the battle of the Citadel_

Shortly Jondum Bau hesitated as he saw Mordin Solus leaving the conference room. The scientist, perhaps the most intelligent Salarian he ever met, always caused cold shudders on his back. He had heard about Solus' incoming leaving of the STG service only two days before. Certainly they would miss his competence but he could understand that he wanted to do something other. Solus wouldn't be the first salarian scientist that felt burned-out. And he had more reason than many others.

Jondum Bau gave him a courtly nod and entered the conference room where Padok Wiks was waiting for him. The younger salarian doctor stared at the diagrams and pictures on the boards at the wall. The Spectre hadn't to examine the body structure of the shown creature to know that it would be Rory Udina, second human Spectre.

"Do you have some news for me, Dr. Wiks," Jondum Bau asked with a neutral tone.

Dr. Wiks turned around, his eyes needing some moments to focus on Jondum Bau's face. Then he nodded slightly and pointed towards the diagrams. "The reaction of his body to the operations had been sufficient."

The tip of his index finger followed some lines that obviously meant much more to him than to Jondum. "The sea water that had entered his body thru the gun wounds had destroyed the right lung. We had to replace that with an artificial lung. Dr. Solus used the opportunity to enhance his capabilities. The new lung has a better oxygen yield, is able to filter a great number of poisonous gases and allows him to go without breathing for five to twelve minutes, dependent on his bodily activity. Most of his other organs had been healthy so far; we only healed some minor damage and cleaned his body from the prior alcohol and drug abuse."

"Alcohol and drugs," Jondum interjected? "Is he addicted? That could cause problems."

Padok Wiks shook his head. "No, he seems to have left behind this episode. But I'd assume that he had been addicted some years ago and his body still showed this."

Obviously Jondum was relieved about this information. "And what it is about his nerves? As I understood Dr. Solus there had been problems?"

Padok Wiks sighed, pointing to some CTG pictures. "The damage from the energy ammunition Nihlus used against him in combination with the medicaments the suit used to save his life and the sea water caused heavy damage on his complete nerve system. We were able to cure most that damage, but not all. Dr. Solus used a special kind of micro-fiber to unburden the organic nerves. They make up a kind of second nerve system and in theory should enable the patient to react even faster than before. But we have to observe him strictly. It is possible that we overlooked parts of his body and this would cause him to have a lesser sense of touch in those parts."

"When will he awaken?"

"We could discontinue the sedatives at any moment now but I would like to leave him in this state for at least another two weeks to give his system time to adapt to the artificial nerves."

"Agreed! I expect to be informed about any greater change of his condition."

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_Udina Estate - Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh – Earth – 7 years ago_

_A slight breeze was all that warned Cathleen about her brother's presence before his arms locked her body and draw her into a tight embrace. _

"_Gotcha!" His warm smile greeted her and caused Cathleen to forget her inner turmoil for a few seconds. "How is my favorite sister doing today? Are you all earnest and studious as every day or willing to have a few cheerful hours with the family's black sheep?"_

_Cathleen pouted for a moment and gave Rory a rabbit punch on his shoulder. Dutifully he grimaced in pain. "I'm your only sister, remember?"_

"_Yes, there was something. I knew there was a reason why I had to love you."_

_Cathleen stuck out her tongue and Rory paled in shock. "Cathleen, this behavior is not fitting to a young lady of the Edinburgh society." Her brother's try to emulate her mother's tune caused Cathleen to break out into a fit of loud laughter. "You're impossible, Rory."_

_Her brother grinned only: "I'm not sure but possibly I heard this once or twice before."_

"_I'm sure you did. And what has my favorite brother in mind as he stalked his little sister?"_

_Getting a tad more serious but not quite willing to leave his smile behind Rory answered: "I thought about abducting my way to earnest sister and have her ride to the London Archaeological Academy where …"_

_The latter part of his sentence was cut short but Cathleen's arms embracing him and squeezing his neck. "Air, I need air," Rory whispered._

_His sister shoved him away. "Wimp and I thought I have a tough one brother." Her eyes getting a more serious look: "But how do we get there? Mom forbade you to drive and you've no car since you crashed the last one."_

_With a glimpse of humor in his eyes Rory responded: "No, but Uncle Donnel left the key of his car behind." He drew the keys from his pocket and let them dance in front of his sister's eyes. She narrowed her eyes: "But Mom …"_

_Rory interjected: "Mother will never learn about that. She has her meeting today. You'll only have to stay your mouth shut about it and declare that you only watched a vid about Dr. Warren's presentation at the Academy. Come, Cathleen, this will be fun."_

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_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – one month after the battle of the Citadel_

Padok Wiks stared at the EEG he'd got and shook his head. The brain activity was way too strong to be healthy while Rory stayed in his artificial sleep. He added some other components to the sedative and hoped that they would succeed in soothing the mind of his patient. Now he simply had to wait.


	2. Chapter 2 Lost Friends

**Lost Friends**

_Flux Nightclub – Citadel_

One by one the members of the Normandy Crew filtered into the flux. Crossing the dance floor and passing the slot machines where some lucky and many unlucky players tried to augment their wealth they reached the niche where Liara had reserved a table for them. The Asari in the same time felt happy and sad. Soon she would be on Thessia again and walk the streets of her home, at least for a few weeks. But she would leave behind those persons that had become a kind of family for her. Even Wrex, the giant Krogan that already had left days before, had been a kind of distant relative after all those battles.

She looked around. _Without Tali and Wrex we're no more such an odd group_. As Shepard neared the table Liara's lips showed a soft smile. Not only were Ashley and Kaidan escorting him, but he had also been able to convince Dr. Chakwas to leave the med bay for a while. The doctor had been a close friend, often the only one, in the last weeks. A scientist as the Asari and with a love for all living beings to match she had been the one person on the ship that most resembled her own way of live.

"Hello Karin, I hoped you would join us." Liara padded on the chair at her side and hugged the doctor lightly as she sat down.

"I would never miss your last evening with our small family, Liara," Karin Chakwas responded with a weak smile of her own. It had been hard for her to realize that the Asari would leave the ships. She would miss their long conversations with a glass of brandy.

"Family, yes," Garrus asked. "And what would I be in that?"

"The black sheep that is stored away when visitors show up," Ashley pulled his leg.

"Pah, you know that you would miss me dearly if I'd accepted that offer to join C-Sec again. Captain Bailey offered me a position of Lieutenant yesterday."

Kaidan blinked friendly: "When will you leave? I would like to get your room, it is greater than mine. I only would have to clean it soundly before using it." Hastily he stepped aside as Garrus tried to punch him. "Hey, that's attacking a superior. Shepard, what's the punishment for that?"

"Superior, why that? Are you an officer now? I thought Shepard gave you the position of ship's mascot," Garrus snickered.

In spite of the small jokes between Kaidan, Ashley and Garrus the mood wasn't really easy. They all were a bit angry that the Council didn't belief the reports of Shepard and Liara about the danger of the reapers. It seemed that the councilors liked to bury their heads in the sand and convince everyone that with the destruction of the sovereign and Saren's death the danger had ended.

"And you're going back to Thessia, Liara," Ashley asked, staring into her glass of whiskey?

"Yes, at least for a while. I have to order the estate of my mother. After that I'll visit Shiala. She has gone to Feros to help the settlers of Zhu's Hope. I'll use some of the money Shepard gave me to buy medicine and other things to help them."

With more than seven millions credits belonging to the Normandy, money they earned thru selling found weapons and information about ore sites, Shepard had decided to give every member of his team a part of it. Some of them as Ash and Kaidan wouldn't use it for the next time as they still belonged to the alliance navy but everyone deserved it.

"What about you and the Normandy, Shepard," Liara asked?

"Anderson still has to decide about that. There are some discussions between navy and council about the Normandy and how I could use it. Especially they have to decide about the careers of those navy members that are still on board."

"And do you have plans what to do next?"

"We'll be looking for Geth activity. It is not what I would like to do but more isn't possible for now. There have been signs of them in the Omega Nebula near the planet Alchera. We'll have a look."

For a while they were silent until Liara broke the silence. "Too bad that Wrex and Tali aren't here with us. I would have liked to share a last drink with them."

Shepard nodded. "Sure, but Wrex has much to do now. He wants to change something on Tuchanka. I don't know his plans but surely it will be something great."

"And bloody," Garrus added.

As the laughter in the round died down again Liara turned to the Turian and asked earnestly: "Do you know something about Tali? Nelyna said that she is alright but I hadn't a real chance to say goodbye before she left."

Garrus was happy that most races were unable to read the emotions of a Turian and tried to hide his body language. Should he tell her about Udina? Sooner or later she would know but …

All stared at him as he looked around, his eyes passing one face after the other, trying to comprehend what they thought about the lost Spectre. As far as he knew Tali had been told to decide for herself whom she wanted to tell about Udina's fate. That she only explained the events on Virmire to him had been a sure sign that she expected … expected what? Garrus wasn't sure about the reasons behind her decision. Not even Liara she had told anything even thought that Garrus was sure that the Asari felt more about Udina than it had been the other way round. Only about Ashley he could understand why she left her in the dark. Certainly Tali put the blame on Udina's near death on the marine's shoulder. And in a way she was right, even so that Ashley never would have asked for that sacrifice.

As the others already thought that they wouldn't get an answer, Garrus responded at last: "She's fine. Tali will go for the flotilla and end her pilgrimage, hopefully with streaming banners. But … she wanted to go to Earth before." Seeing their confusion he added with a very weak smile: "She wanted to visit Udina's mother, tell her about him and somehow … conciliate them."

"Err, yes, understand," Kaidan responded but Garrus was sure about the marine not understanding anything, Shepard perhaps but not Kaidan. Ashley paled at Garrus words. She too clearly remembered that the Turian considered her responsible for Udina's death and surely Tali's opinion wouldn't be any better. But only for Liara he felt sorrow. The Asari bowed her head to veil the tears that were showing in her soft blue eyes. Silently Garrus watched her body language and _… she's really troubled about that. Could it be … no … no I hope not._

Shepard raised his glass: "Let us drink: on all our friends, those far away and those lost in space. That we'll all be together again someday somewhere."

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_Udina Estate - Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh – Earth – 7 years ago_

_Always the gentleman, at least to his beloved sister, Rory opened the car door and let Cathleen enter. The car his Uncle Donnel had left behind on the family estate surely wasn't the kind he would buy for himself but at least the ride would be comfortable. With a sigh of joy he plumped on the driver's seat and started the engine, listening to the dark growl of it._

"_Fasten your seat belts, please. The ride will begin in short time."_

_With squeaking tires and clattering gravel behind the car left the estate and after some minutes hit the road to London._

"_Are you really sure about this, Rory? Uncle won't be pleased if his car got a single scratch."_

"_Easy, sis, you know how I ride."_

_Cathleen laughed: "Yes, I know, that's the reason why I ask."_

_._

_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – one month after the battle of the Citadel _

Padok Wiks left the room and shook his head as he looked at the two Salarians that were waiting for him. "The sedative isn't working. His brain is working to intensive. This threatens to damage his whole nerve system. We have to find a way to soothe him."

Jondum Bau stared back, his face not showing how uneasy he felt about the decision he had to make. "You can't really expect that I agree on such a grave breach of STG security protocol."

"I don't expect anything. I simply state the facts. There is a problem and it could cause the death of our patient or at least the failure of the complete treatment, not only wasting the invested resources but also making it impossible to use him as a Spectre. That you don't like my solution to this problem doesn't change anything about the fact that it is the only solution I have in the moment."


	3. Chapter 3 Long Way down

**Long Way down**

_Shepard's Quarter – Normandy – nearing Alchera_

The beeping sound announced that the Normandy would arrive at the Almada System within short time. Lazily Ashley turned around, her naked form only concealed by a thin blanket. Resting her head on his shoulder she started to play with the hairs on his breast.

"If you don't like them, please say so and don't begin to pluck them, chief," Shepard growled slightly.

Ashley raised her head a bit and grinned at him: "So it is 'Chief' again?"

"For me you'll always be Chief Ashley," Shepard responded, his eyes showing that softness Ashley adored so much. With a smirk he added: "At least as long as we stay in bed."

Her grin broadening even more Ashley declared: "Good to know that you realize who's in charge around here." Her hand went below the blanket and trailed down his breast towards …

Shepard stopped her with a firm grip: "Not now Ash, we'll have to show up in the CIC." As he saw he small pout he continued more softly: "I promise that we'll have more time later."

"Promises, promises," Ashley left the bed and the cover of her blanket and reached for her clothes only to stop a moment later and grinning back to Shepard, her eyes sassy lingering on that body part of him that showed his appreciation of her naked body: "Are you sure you want to leave now?"

With a deep animal growl he threw a cushion at her face. With a squeak she evaded the missile, changing to a sigh as he really left the bed to and began to put on his armor. Standing still she watched him, thinking about their relationship. The sex was good and she liked their word duels. But away from that they hadn't gone on in the last weeks. Ashley hoped that slowly she would able to reach a new level. With him no more a member of the navy and technical spoken no more her superior, they could start a real … _real what, _she mused, _partnership, little family with kittens and children?_

Ashley wasn't ready to leave the navy and settle down, not yet. But her sister had been married to a soldier too, so perhaps …

Angry she pushed those thoughts aside. Shepard hadn't shown any interest in intensifying their relationship. For a second fear gripped her heart with icy claws. _What if he really meant what he said above Ilos? That he only wanted to be friends with benefits? No, that couldn't be, that _…

Ashley nodded weakly as Shepard left, saying something about seeing her later in the CIC.

She simply had to wait and hope.

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_CIC – Normandy – nearing Alchera_

Navigator Pressly and Kaidan Alenko already expected him, the biotic showing a small smile as he saw the condition of Shepard's outfit and hairs.

"I assume you've slept well, Commander?"

Shepard glared at him. "Shut up, Kaidan. And it is 'Spectre' as yesterday and the day before."

"Aye, Commander, I'll try to remember that." Ignoring Shepard's growl he continued: "We're nearing Alchera. According to the information we got three vessels disappeared near the planet in the last two weeks."

"I would expect that they had been victims to some batarian smugglers," Pressly interjected. "They have been many of them in these systems since the Council lost so many ships to the Geth."

"Possible but unlikely," Shepard stated matter-of-factly. "But we'll see. Any signals so far, Pressly?"

The Navigator looked at his workstation to reassure himself before he responded: "Nothing, not even clouds of debris or … moment sir: There just arrived another ship." Hastily his fingers worked the buttons: "A large one, at least cruiser-size, but unknown type."

"Stealth systems are active," Shepard asked and Pressly nodded. "Good, let's have a look at them."

Following his orders the Normandy turned around and proceeded towards the unknown ship.

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_Road from Edinburgh to London – Earth – 7 years ago_

_Rory drummed with his fingers on the wheel to the music they heard. Every now and again he shot Cathleen a smile and reassured himself that she was enjoying the ride. She still looked a bit troubled even if she tried to appear happy. But he knew her too well._

"_We'll be there in time, sis, and stop worrying."_

"_It is," she started meekly," I don't know. You know how much I want to see Dr. Warren and I'm really grateful but …"_

_Rory gripped her left hand and pressed it lightly, showing her his softest brotherly smile. _

_He would never forget this moment, this expression on her face as the joy melted away and a look of horror appeared, her eyes staying on something over his shoulder. As in slow motion his head turned around. Numb thru shock and fear he saw the other car, a giant of a truck, crossing the middle-line of the road, pushing away a few cars in front of them. His mass shoved them away like toys. The gap closed in split seconds, his try to slow down or evade the impact far too late. In the last moment he urged his body in front of Cathleen, trying to remember how to form a biotic barrier. He had never been a good student at the biotic lessons, the needed patience never been part of him. _

_The truck slithered on the pavement, nearing the car like a crushing red wall. _

_God, let me die instead of her. _

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_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – one month after the battle of the Citadel_

Alternately watching the screens that showed Rory's live signals and ordering the nurses which medicaments to administer Padok Wiks hurried around. The concern about his patient showed clearly on his otherwise so calm face. Angry Ganto Imness turned around to face the salarian Spectre at his side: "Damn it, Jondum, do it now. Fetch her and get her at his side. I've not dragged his bloody cadaver around on Virmire only to lose him now because of some STG protocols.

Jondum blinked at him. Then, accompanying the gesture with an almost unhearable sigh, he nodded.

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_Quarters of Councilor Anderson – Citadel_

Another day was nearing its end, another day of endless haggling with the other councilors. That humanity had a seat now among the 'greater races' of Asari, Turians and Salarians obviously didn't mean that their Councilors would greet him warmly or show him that admiration that Ambassador Udina had expected.

_Perhaps is should have declined that position and left it to Udina. He certainly would like all this bickering and the 'honors' going with the seat of a Councilor_.

Anderson chuckled uneasily. That was a stupid idea, very stupid indeed. The other Councilors didn't like him or the idea of letting the humans step forward into the arena of galaxy politics. But at least they showed him a modicum of respect, something Udina wouldn't be able to get until he changed his opinions. And Anderson couldn't harbor them a grudge about that. Too often Udina had shown his human-centric point of view; too often he had proven that he would value the prosperity of humans more than a galaxy-wide progress.

If only his nephew would still be around. In spite of what he thought about Rory Udina in the beginning the young officer had shown an astonishing open mind about the other races – the Asari aside. His relation to this young Quarian had shown this openness only the more. Tali'Zorah, Anderson smiled, to the Quarian's honor the Council planned to erect a small statue near the greater war memorial for the 'Battle of the Citadel'.

A knock at the door, his secretary entering the room with a troubled face: "Councilor Anderson, sorry about the disturbance but … but I have dire news about the Normandy."


	4. Chapter 4 Everyone on his own

**Warning: This Chapter contains a part about a car accident and death of a family member. Please don't read if this troubles you.**

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**Everyone on his own**

_Ashley – Ferry Avalanche_

Her mind numb, her eyes shot swollen after hours of crying, Ashley more stumbled than walked upright to her small cabin. She ignored the friendly Stewardess, greeting her on the interstellar ferry Avalanche and closed the door behind her. A few steps she was able to make after that before falling on her bed.

"_Ash, grab Dr. Chakwas and make sure that she's in an escape pod. And you'll go with her."_

"_But, Skipper …"_

"_I have no time for discussions, do it Ash. That's an order."_

"_Y … yes, Skipper."_

Every time she closed her eyes Ashley saw the pictures again. The Normandy was in front of the planet Alchera, burning and breaking away. She saw the other escape pods, heard his voice as he convinced Joker to leave. Then there was fire, only fire as the Normandy exploded, and a hail of large and small pieces falling from the sky towards the planet like a meteorite shower. And she heard Joker's voice again as he told them that Shepard hadn't made it into the pod. His voice had been drowned out by someone's cries of grief and anger, loud cries that couldn't belong to her.

"_Why have you left him, Joker? How could you desert him?"_

It had needed Garrus and Kaidan to hold her back, to avoid her breaking every bone in the pilot's body. At last Dr. Chakwas had to put her out with a sedative.

After awakening on the Citadel she hadn't spoken with them for days, hadn't realized that at every moment one of her former comrades were near her to prevent …

No, Ashley sighed deeply depressed, she wouldn't lay hand on her own life. She remembered how she had spoken with Udina about that long ago. Somehow they had touched the subject of suicide and she had explained how her belief in god would deny her this expedient. He had reacted with a weird look but changed the theme as she tried to push the matter.

It had been a better time, a time with two human Spectres and the hope that the human race would really climb onto a position among the other space-faring races. And now both were dead. Both in a way had given their life for her. Ashley gripped her head, moaning loudly. After some days she had realized that she wasn't angry at Joker but at herself. When she at last had been able to speak with him, he hadn't been insulted or angry. No, he had been sympathetic to her emotions. That his eyes told her about his own grief and his own self -reproaches, had deteriorated her mood only the more.

Now, weeks later, she had thought that she would be over the loss. But it had only needed the oration of Anderson at Shepard's memorial ceremony to bring it all back tenfold. She had nearly been unable to say farewell to the others before she went away. Anderson had ordered her to make a vacation on Earth with her family for a month. After that she would start the N7-training. Was it a bad joke? After years of struggling to leave the garrison duties behind her streak of bad luck had ended, had given her an officer promotion and the chance to be a N7. And in the same moment fate took away the very reason she wanted to have that.

But she was willing to do her best. The training seemed to her to be a kind of farewell gift of Shepard. And she wouldn't disappoint him.

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_Kaidan – Dock E22 – Citadel_

Kaidan watched how the ferry Avalanche left the dock and made its way toward the mass portal. With Ashley away he was almost alone on the Citadel now.

Wrex and Tali had only stayed for a few days and left immediately after the memorial. Tali'Zorah vas Neema as her new name had been. A small smile found its way on his lips. That at least had been a sliver of hope and joy. With the Geth data from Armstrong Cluster she had been able to impress her people. Now she was a full-fledged member of the flotilla. She had been a bit nervous and short-spoken at the meeting but in the last days nobody had been in the mood to relax.

The surviving members of the crew had been transferred to other ships or institutions. Engineer Adams would be an instructor on Earth and Dr. Chakwas got a position in a hospital on Mars.

Only Garrus was still here. He had declined to join C-Sec and now obviously was thinking about new targets. And Liara, friendly and helpful Liara, he shouldn't forget. The death of Shepard had shaken her deeply, not as much as Ashley but still …

The Avalanche being no more visible, Kaidan turned around and left the dock. Tomorrow he would leave the Citadel too. On board of the corvette Scylla he would go to Alchera and look for signs. Apart from Shepard there had been another score of dead crew members, the highest ranking Navigator Pressly. Anderson had ordered him to search for memorabilia and diaries, things the families of the deceased would cherish.

Had it really only been a few weeks ago that Ashley told him about the help she got from Udina to recover the body of a deceased platoon member from the depths of human bureaucracy? It had been the same Corvette Scylla that brought the corpse back to Earth to her family.

Would he find Shepard's body? It was possible but unlikely. But he had hope yet.

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_Road from Edinburgh to London – Earth – 7 years ago_

_The car was struck by the truck. Something hit him, a metallic rod pierced his side, went unhindered thru Cathleen's breast and the seat behind her. Blood tickled from her mouth; her eyes were still open. She even pressed the slightest of smiles, hushed him with a nearly unhearable voice. _

"_Keep on, Cathleen. They'll rescue you. God won't let you die."_

_Rory was unable to feel the blood loss from the wound at his side or his broken legs. There was only Cathleen's face. Long before the helpers arrived, she had closed her eyes, token her last breath, pressed his hand meekly. Long minutes he watched her, stroked her hand gently, caressed her hair and said silly things she would never answer to. _

_The rescue workers had to force the door open. With a blowtorch they cut the rod, tore it away as a kind of giant arrow. In spite of the sedative the pain was nearly unbearable and brought the first emotion back to a totally numb Rory Udina. As they tried to carry him away, he wanted to stand up. He wanted to stay with Cathleen, make secure that she would survive. They tried to explain, tried to soothe him. But he pressed his fists on his ears, denied to hear anything. _

_A coffin, a dull silver, they opened, stored lovely Cathleen in it like a kind of luggage. _

"_No," scrambling to his feet, his wound open again within seconds, he pushed the paramedic away and hurried at her side. "Cathleen, all will be good, you'll see." _

_A gentle hand on his shoulder, soft spoken words in his ear tried to direct him away. With panic in his heart he lashed out, hurled the paramedic away. Already forgetting what happened Rory embraced Cathleen's body with all his might, shushing her and caressing her head. He had been still in this condition as a needle entered his arm, a sedative given by the same paramedic that was unwilling to see him die from blood loss._

_Rory slept deeply as they carried Cathleen away in the dull silver coffin._

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_Freighter Ithaca – nearing Sur'Kesh_

"Ithaca, here is Sur'Kesh Air Control. You have permission to land on platform 14-C."

"Thank you, Air Control."

While the small crew prepared to land on the small spaceport, Ganto Imness turned around and looked at the small woman at his side. She hadn't nearly spoken a word since their start. After watching the pictures of Rory on his hospital bed and reading the report from Padok Wiks recording what they knew about his dreams, she had been especially quiet and stared thru the window.

The Salarian hoped that she would be able to do in what they had failed.


	5. Chapter 5 Valuable Merchandise

**Warning: This Chapter contains a part about a car accident, death of a family member and attempted suicide. Please don't read if this troubles you.**

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**Valuable Merchandise**

_Alchera – Normandy Crashing Site_

It was a sure sign of Cradix' anticipation that he stalked over the uneven and frosted ground clasping his hands and looking around like he would be in a theme park. But instead of games, statues and feeding booths there were only the scattered remains of a ship around him.

_Normandy, apart from the Destiny Ascension the most renowned ship in Citadel Space, lying around like dumped scrap_, Cradix laughed to himself quietly.

"Cradix, here is Trem. The engine is destroyed as expected. But some of the lesser electronic parts are salvageable."

"Go on, Trem, after that look around for usable computer parts. Aren, how's the armory?"

"Aren here, armory is opened now. Seems most of the weapons are functional."

Cradix grinned, content with his decision to go after the Normandy instantly after he heard the distress calls from their escape pods. The remaining crew members had been evacuated by a civilian ship crossing the system but obviously until now the alliance had no time or will to send a ship to the crashing site.

The Batarian looked around. _This is all mines_. He stopped as his eyes caught something, a boot sticking out between some ice rocks. Corpses in itself weren't valuable but perhaps there was an Omni tool or other …

Cradix halted his step. Dumb-folded he looked down and slowly his smile widened to a very broad grin. _Jackpot_, he thought as he realized whose corpse was lying in front of him. The N7-armor was unmistakable even in its battered and burned condition. The electronic parts were valuable, the weapons useful. But selling the corpse of the first human Spectre, the one that had saved the Citadel, this would make him a very rich Batarian.

"Trem, drop what you're doing over there. I have a package for you."

.

_Udina Estate - Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh – Earth – 7 years ago_

"_We have gathered her today, to say farewell to Cathleen …"_

_The sun bathed the crowd that had gathered at the small graveyard and the edge of the Udina Estate. Cathleen had been well-known and well-loved despite her youth. Apart from the family many friends had come to say farewell. A large gathering of her classmates stood at the side together with some of her teachers. Being a member of the Edinburgh society and an old and respected family at that, Anne-Mary had been forced to invite some members of said society and a few business friends too._

_Everyone wanted to be there and show his regret. But Anne-Mary felt nothing. She had used all her power to stay upright and show a plain face as it could be expected from her. She would not cry; she would be strong. A whimper caused her to like aside, toward the boy she was nearly unable to suffer near her. In contrary to her Rory mourned openly. He had never shown any sign of being that controlled person he should have been. She had been too weak in his uprising, too forgiving. _

_His physician stood at his side as always in the last week. He had told her about Rory's condition. His physical wounds were healing, but he had shown signs of great emotional distress. He had feared … Anne-Mary nearly shook her head. She had taken great care in raising her children to believe in God and at least in this point Rory never had failed her. Rory would be alright, would forget his sister and go on. Cath … with all might Anne-Mary stifled her moan and clenched her teeth._

_Slowly Rory sank to the floor, his physician unable to hold him steady. For a moment Anne-Mary wanted to reach out her hand, but she could not. The idea of touching him after what he had done, after he had killed her little sweetheart …_

_Her hand still rested at her side. The moment was gone._

.

_Freighter Ithaca – nearing Sur'Kesh_

The gentle touch of Ganto's hand on her shoulder brought Anne-Mary Udina back to reality. She looked up into Ganto's troubled face. Twice she had failed her son. The first time when she had been too soft in his upbringing, the second time when she had been too unforgiving after Cathleen's death. She couldn't stand to fail him a third time. Pressing a very weak smile she accepted Ganto's hand and stood up slowly.

.

_Alchera – Normandy Crashing Site_

In silence Kaidan watched the marines of the Scylla foraging thru the remains of the Normandy. Within minutes it had been clear that some scavengers had beaten them to the crash site. He had to wait now.

"So at least it seems that Rory wasn't the only one you failed to protect. But really, Kaidan, losing two Spectre's in a row?" The words seemed to be meant as a joke but when he turned around he knew that the woman didn't feel amused.

"Falcon," he nodded shortly, remembering the name of the team's sniper from the Luna mission. _She had been close to Udina_. Although he tried hard to take the stinging words easy, Kaidan sensed anger rising in his guts. "I had expected you to be more professional. To address a commissioned officer in such a way …"

Falcon interjected his little speech with a snort. "Hiding behind your rank now, Lieutenant Alenko? I shouldn't have expected otherwise. Chief Williams, notwithstanding her to be a dork around Rory, at least had some balls in her pants."

_What does she mean with that?_

"Falcon let the man in peace. He has crewmembers to mourn." Her captain's words stopped Falcon at least for the moment and relieved Kaidan from responding to her harassment in a way he didn't like, especially at this place.

"Captain, have there been any signs of the lost crewmembers?"

"Sorry, Lieutenant, nothing so far. A few armor pieces and dog tags, that's all."

.

_Afterlife – Omega_

The waves of beating music could be sensed in everyone's breast. Flickering lights outlined the bodies of asari dancers all around and the smell of cheap synthol penetrated the air. Cradix had no eyes and ears for this; instead he was fully concentrating on the woman in front of him. On the first look one could think she was an Asari as a dozen others here. The commando jacket certainly didn't hide much of her body that was still able to draw admiration from every onlooker.

But a single look in her eyes showed the error of underestimating Aria T'loak. She hadn't been able to build her small empire on Omega thru weakness, softness and compassion. Cradix gulped as he endured her stare.

"So you want your little auction to take place in my rooms, under my protection?"

"Yes, Aria. I wanted to use the Afterlife because it would be a kind of neutral territory. Donovan Hock will be one of the bidder and two batarian war-chiefs will attend too. Other … persons have also indicated interest. Naturally you would get your share of the transaction." He smiled and hoped his expression to be a sign of confidence.

.

A while later Aria was still thinking about the meeting. Donovan Hock, he was an ass and nobody to have around but he had two virtues: a lot of money and an interest in special … merchandise. That some Batarians had an interest in Shepard's body was no surprise to her, thinking about his part in the battles against batarian traders some years ago. But she didn't expect them to offer nearly enough money to counter someone like Donovan Hock.

As an afterthought she turned around to the salarian technician she held on standby near her.

"Open a connection to the Citadel, Helena Blake. I have to speak with her."

.

Liara wrinkled her nose as she took in her first breath in the afterlife. Seeing Garrus interest in the dancers she punched against his shoulders, regretting the move instantly as her hand told her that it wasn't built to smack a Turian. "Get in your tongue, Garrus; I won't like to step on it."

Narrowing his eyes and suppressing a smile he responded: "I could imagine you on one of this tables. You would earn a lot of money I suppose."

Suppressing a blush Liara wasn't sure if she should feel embarrassed, angry or flattered about that comment. Instead she decided to ignore him and went forward. Somewhere in the Afterlife the contact should be Helena Blake had given to her.

.

_**Author's note:**_

_**I don't want to rewrite the events around Liara and Shepard's body. If you want to read about that search for the comic "Mass effect: Redemption". The only change I make so far is that Liara is not alone but Garrus accompanying her. I always thought that he not being surprised on Shepard's appearance to be a bit weird. **_


	6. Chapter 6 Reunion

**Warning: This Chapter contains a part about death of a family member and attempted suicide. Please don't read if this troubles you.**

.

**Reunion**

_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – three months after the battle of the Citadel_

The surrounding of the medical center Anne-Mary Udina had been brought to was wonderful. The center had been erected on a hill overlooking a small lake belted by meadows and small groves of trees with green and red leaves. It had been built like a pyramid with wide balconies at the edges. Accustomed to the dignified peace of human medical centers it was quite a change to witness the bee-hive like activity around her.

Most of the personal and obviously most of the patients were Salarian as could be expected and for most of them it seemed to be impossible to stand still for more than a few seconds. Anne-Mary stayed near Ganto the whole time and thought about the weirdness of this situation. Her family had always been very conservative and traditional. This had not only been expressed by their intense religious life but also their outlook about other races.

And now she was walking thru a salarian medical center to see her son. How far must he have changed in the past years? His best friend was a Turian. A Salarian tried to save his life. And then there had been Tali. They had talked the whole afternoon and evening that day. All the time Anne-Mary had been the friendly but a bit distant host, her demeanor being equally what she used to be and a kind of shield to protect her core. But then Tali'Zorah had slipped in her wording. So far Anne-Mary had wondered about the relation between the Quarian and her son. Was it possible that his open mind towards other races had let him into a more than friendly relation with this girl?

But then Tali had told about Virmire, about the choice that had to be made and why Rory had convinced Spectre Shepard to rescue the other group.

.

_Udina Estate - Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh – Earth – one month ago_

"_It had been the logical choice for him. He never thought highly of himself, was never able to see the importance of his life or what he had done for other, how much he had influenced the lives of those around him. In the end it had been the choice to save Ganto Imness and him or to go for Kirrahe and his team. I think that Shepard would have chosen Rory to survive, him being the second human Spectre and all. But Rory convinced him to do otherwise. He told about his life-threatening wounds and that it would be an error to go for him._

_It had been only after I spoke with the salarian Spectre Jondum Bau that I knew his real condition. At the moment of the talking with Shepard his wounds hadn't been that grave. With immediate care it wouldn't have been a problem to cure him. But the type of his rescue had endangered him afterwards; especially that he was dumped into sea water for hours."_

_Tali stayed quiet for a while and Anne-Mary already thought that the narration had been ended, as the Quarian woman continued, her voice being a mix of tiredness and a little anger._

"_But this number counting was only part of the decision, an important part but not the only one. I'm unable to say which decision he would have made without her, without Ashley, his Ridein. But this is only theory. She had been there and he chose to save her life above his own."_

_Anne-Mary narrowed her eyes; her voice showed some compassion irrespective of her trying to be without commitment furthermore. "He called her Ridein? And I was wondering … if you would be …" She struggled for words, stopping her attempt when she saw Tali bowing her head slightly and answering with a bit of confusion._

"_You thought that we were committed? No … I have to admit at the start I wondered about my feelings and those of him too, especially as he made such an effort to improve my living conditions on the Normandy. But then we realized … Mrs. Udina, Rory and I we kind of … love each other. But it is not in this way. I'm not his wife and never will be; I'm his Piuthrag."_

_Tali hurried to Anne-Mary's side as she saw how Rory's mother paled and nearly fainted. It had been this moment, this single word that had broken the steel shield around her heart, the barriers she had erected and worked so hard to strengthen in the last years._

_Piuthrag, little sister, this had been his pet name for Cathleen. And now she remembered, remembered intensely how the relation had been between Rory and Cathleen. Since their father's death they had been inseparable. How often had Cathleen been in this very room and tried to soothe the waves after one of Rory's misdeeds. And how often had he came to her aid, defended her hero-like against elder pupils or went great lengths to fetch a special gift for her to see her smile._

_God, he had even learned how to dance for her. Anne-Mary remembered that summer, how fourteen-year-old Cathleen had been smitten with that other boy, Malcolm. She had been so happy to be invited by him to the autumn prom until she realized that a ball was about dancing. Cathleen had been devastated and nearly cancelled the date. But in this moment Rory stepped in. He organized a dancing teacher and never left her alone in those days, practicing with her, convincing her to go on as she stumbled and failed in her steps. And then, two days before the prom, Malcolm had revoked the invitation. He wanted to go with another, an elder girl._

"_He is an ass and a dork, Cathleen. Let's go to the prom together."_

"_But I thought … you wanted to invite Mandy? I don't want to spoil your evening, Rory."_

"_Cathleen … shut up." Rory gave her that smile that was reserved for his little Piuthrag. "There is nobody in the world I would like more to have around on the dance floor or everywhere else."_

_They had made a stunning appearance at that evening and caused more than one jealous look. Malcolm obviously had regretted his choice and annoyed his dancing partner enough that she left him on the dance floor._

_The next year Cathleen had been overwhelmed with invitations to the prom, but she had declined them all, friendly and compassionately, but decline she did. Four times the autumn prom had been the evening of Rory and his little sister._

.

_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – three months after the battle of the Citadel_

Anne-Mary stumbled and only Ganto's hasty grip prevented her from falling. She thanked the Salarian with a nod and tried hard to push the memories away. Some minutes later Doctor Wiks explained to her the condition of Rory, but Anne-Mary only had eyes for her son. He was so pale, so thin. Slowly she went to his side and sat down, watching his movements, the shivering of his hands and the flickering of his eyelids.

.

_Udina Estate - Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh – Earth – 6 years ago_

_Anne-Mary Udina watched her brother Donnlen as he crossed the forecourt of the Udina Estate. In silence Rory waited at her side, his eyes to the ground as ever in the last months. Shortly after the memorial for Cathleen one of the chambermaids had found him on his bed in a nearly comatose stadium. As she never visited him in the hospital it had been the house physician that told her about the amount of soporifics that had been found in his body. _

_Back then she had been able to deny the possibility that it could have been something else than an accident. Mandy, the girl from the first prom that had obviously been more impressed by Rory' devotion to his sister than be deterred by his disinvitation, had tried hard to brighten him up. But she had failed completely. For months Rory walked around like a robot, his eyes down, his voice not showing joy or any other emotion. His words had been always polite towards his mother and everybody else, but it had been the politeness of a lifeless husk._

_And then came the day that forced his mother to look reality in the eye. Rory had been alone the whole day, always watched from afar but seemingly sooth, at least until he smashed that mirror and used one of the shards to slit his arterials. This time there hadn't been any way to ignore his condition, his need of help. And Anne-Mary had to admit that she was unable to fill that role. The barriers she had erected around her heart had denied her the capabilities to reach Rory's mind. So she did the one thing that had seemed to be possible at that moment._

"_Hello, Anne. Hello, Rory," Donnlen Udina greeted his relatives with a bland face. Anne-Mary knew that her brother wasn't eager to help, but help he would. That was their way, the way of the Udinas. Rory would leave his home with his Uncle, leave behind his mother and the graveyard he had been visiting every day until his physician had forbidden him to do so. _

_Wordless Rory had taken his belongings and went towards the helicopter. He didn't look back and his mother didn't stop him. _

_For six years she wouldn't see him again, not speak with him nor write. For six years he had been kind of dead._

.

_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – three months after the battle of the Citadel_

Hesitantly Anne-Mary reached out and grabbed Rory's hand; pressed it slightly. Without a word she sat by his side, watched his body slowly relaxing, the shivering of his hand succumbing. No, she hadn't forgiven him what he had done. But he was still her son and he was mourning Cathleen's death all the same. Cathleen had loved him and in this moment Anne-Mary realized that her daughter would be totally shaken to see her death parting Rory from his mother.

Weakly she pressed his hand again and whispered: "She loved you, Rory. And I love you still."

_Notes:_

_Piuthrag: gaelic for 'little sister'_

_Ridein: gaelic for 'beautiful maiden'_


	7. Chapter 7 A new Chapter

**A new Chapter**

_STG Medical Center – Sur'Kesh – four months after the battle of the Citadel_

With ponderous grace, like a whale of the sky, the ship left the landing platform behind with Rory Udina watching it. The last month had brought a change that he hadn't thought possible for years. They had spent these wonderful thirty-four days together, every hour of day and night, speaking, walking and training, his mother and him.

They had avoided speaking about the tragedy most of the time. Instead of that Rory had told about his adventures in the Navy and as the second human Spectre. And Anne-Marry reported the last events in the family and the society of Edinburgh. Slowly, very slowly they had broken the first shift of ice between them, allowing Rory to look in his mother's eyes again and her to touch and hold him without too many cramps.

And then she had started to speak about those days, her hate of him, her sorrow to loose Cathleen and of her regret to not been able to help him as he needed her help the utmost. She had neither forgiven nor forgotten but she was willing to accept that he had changed. His mother had allowed him to come back and visit her grave. And they would write each other, write about normal things and events. But they had agreed not to write about her. Cathleen would stay a theme to be spoken about in intimate togetherness.

Before she left Anne-Mary had stated a last warning: "Rory, one thing I expect from you. You will never hurt Tali'Zorah. I really appreciate her and your choice to treat her like your sister. Even with your condition one month before I would have been unable to cross the line and come here. I would regret it later but … you understand Rory: I needed the push; I needed someone to tell me about your change. She is someone truly special."

_Tali_, Rory sighed. He had been really blessed to have not one but two woman of this kind in his life. If he'd believe in such things he could think that somehow a tiny part of Cathleen had been reborn in her. Or perhaps Cathleen had convinced the Goddess to give him another chance after he messed up the first one so badly.

Shortly he remembered how he had spoken with Ashley about faith. "How can someone see all this around him, those stars, planets and races without believing in god?" At that moment he had agreed and now he would add: _How can I not have faith in the Goddess, how could I think that it was pure chance that I had two such wonderful Puithrags?_

.

The touch on his shoulder startled Udina. A short look in Ganto's face told him that the Salarian certainly had tried several times to reach him with words.

"Sorry, Ganto, I was thinking about something."

The Salarian simply nodded shortly but stayed silent. It had been this kind of calm silence that he had appreciated the most around Ganto in the last weeks. Without his help and his composure, unusual for his people and as Rory assumed a sign of his profession, these last weeks had been much more difficult.

"Ganto … I wanted to thank you, thank you for the rescue on Virmire, for getting my mother to Sur'Kesh and all else. You had been a true friend."

"It had been only expediency. With you my new boss it is only good to use these possibilities to gather brownie points before we even start." The small smile on his lips was a sign of Ganto's deadpan humor and his uneasiness to be the recipient of gratitude.

Rory smiled back. "That is understandable. Thinking about the amateur level of skill you've shown on Virmire you'll need any brownie point with me you're able to gather."

They gave five and turned around for their walk back. With much more seriousness Rory continued after a few minutes. "Ganto, I want to apologize, apologize for the decision I made on Virmire not only about my life but yours too. It had been the right decision but grounded on the wrong reasons."

They took more than a hundred steps before Ganto replied at last: "You know, Rory, I should be angry about that; that you were willing to sacrifice me for her life. But I can't, simply justified thru your willingness to sacrifice your own life too and that I would have died there without you releasing me from the cell. But believe me Rory: if you ever immolate me again for a woman's life I'll be very angry with you."

Rory smiled back very thinly: "I'll try to remember that when the circumstances arise. But I can't promise anything."

.

"Ganto, I know about most of the changes of my body Dr. Solus and Dr. Wiks made: lung, eyes, nerves; but what you never told is the reason of these." Rory raised his forearms and pointed to the small metallic contacts at his wrists in the form of one inch long soft power cables.

"I think it is time to speak about that. The changes that had to be made with these artificial nerve tracts had some important side effects, some positive and some negative. The most negative was the decrease of your biotic abilities. In the training you saw that you have all your old abilities but that they have been weakened for around thirty percent. With training you'll be able to lessen this negative impact – at least Dr. Wiks hopes so – but you'll perhaps never reach your old level.

The one positive effect you've learned about is your shortened reaction times and your better hand-eye coordination. While your skill with the sniper rifle is unchanged – and lesser than for example my own – your one of the fastest and most accurate gunslingers I ever saw, perhaps even the fastest. But after the operation we experienced some very special reactions of your nerve system, not completely unexpected but a positive surprise nonetheless. You're able to collect an amount of free nerve energy in your artificial nerve system and release this on command. These contacts are thought as a kind of releasing and targeting device. We'll use the next days to train your abilities to release this energy. With it you should be able to stun an enemy on short distances."

Rory narrowed his eyes in surprise. "That could really come handy sometimes."

"Yes it would. But we have to see how strong this neural shock is and how exhausting for you. We also expect that you'll have a long reload time, perhaps a few minutes. So it will be more of a last ditch weapon, nothing you use in every fight."

"I understand. Let's go. And after that I would like to speak with you about the equipment, the changes you made on the Ithaca and the crew we need."

"Not too hasty, young Spectre," Ganto tried to soothe him mockingly, "all at the right time. And don't forget that you have an appointment with Councilor Valern now that your mother is away."

Rory smirked slightly: I'm full of anticipation about that."

.

_Bureau of Councilor Valern – Citadel Presidium – five months after the battle of the Citadel_

"It is good to see you healthy again, Spectre Udina. Your condition caused some concern." The greeting of Councilor Valern was surprisingly warm and Rory was nearly willing to believe the concern to be real.

"It is good to see you again, Councilor Valern. The therapy on Sur'Kesh had been very good. I'll need some additional weeks to gather full strength but Dr. Wiks told me that I'm ready for my first mission."

"Good, very good, Spectre Udina. From the reports Commander Imness send me I know that you'll have to gather some additional crew members and equipment. The Council is willing to help in that department but you have free hand."

It had only been a few days ago that Ganto Imness had gotten his promotion to Lieutenant commander. He would be Udina's XO on the Ithaca. Rory already liked the ship. Certainly it was not comparable to the Normandy, neither in armoring, weapons or speed. It had neither the Normandy's stealth system nor a military intern structure. But the communication and sensor systems were on a par to the best military ships and it had much more space to accommodate the crew, grounding vehicles and even an additional STG team if the need arose. And surely it was much less conspicuous as a freighter, especially if Udina wanted to go around in the Terminus systems.

"I already have a few people in mind. I'll have to check their availability. I hope my status has been cleared with Councilor Anderson and Admiral Hacket?"

Councilor Valern nodded. "Officially this is a Salarian-Human project, similar to the Turian-Human project the Normandy had been but on a smaller scale, at least in the material and financial compartment. You'll get the money from both governments but you should expect this not to be too generous. The alliance navy is only willing to spend a very narrow budget regarding the Ithaca and my government is unable to compensate this without being targeted with the suspicion of influencing you. Not that I ever would try such a thing."

Rory nodded slightly and responded the smile. "I would never expect so. That means we'll have to look for other sources of income. I see no problem there. Thru my family I have contacts to some human corporations and surely no one could see any bad in my trading with those corporations about mining sites as I did in the past."

"Well, so this is resolved. Spectre Jondum Bau expects you at the Spectre Bureau. He has a collection of weapons and equipment to use at your leisure. I wish you well and expect your declaration of readiness a month from now at the latest."

Rory gripped Councilor Valern's hand and left the bureau. A new chapter of his career had begun.


	8. Chapter 8 Old and new Friends

**Old and new Friends**

_Bureau of Councilor Anderson – Citadel Presidium – five months after the battle of the Citadel_

The meeting with Jondum Bau had been short and successful. A collection of new armor and weapons would be transferred onboard the Ithaca to supplement the technological equipment Rory had got on Sur'Kesh. Now it was time to start to gather his new crew and courtesy demanded to start with this visit to his former superior.

"Congratulations to your new position, Councilor Anderson."

"Thank you, Spectre Udina; it is good to see you again. But why do I have the impression that you're not really lucky to see me here?"

Rory stared for a while at his former Captain, realized the rings under the eyes and other signs of exhaustion. Showing a thin smile he decided to be open with him. "It wasn't surprising to learn about Shepard's proposition to announce you as our representative at the Council but I think this choice to be an error. You're way too valuable as a military leader to burn you in a political position. The danger to Citadel Space hasn't ended with the destruction of the Sovereign and Saren's death. We need you in helping to build up the Navy."

Anderson sighed. "I've to admit that I'm not really happy here but who else should we propose as our councilor? Your Uncle perhaps?"

"Yes, that would have been a better choice. He has the experience and contacts even if he lacks in other important aspects. Dominic Osoba should be appointed as his XO to get more experience. And after two years Ambassador Udina should be replaced by Osoba. He is a real good man and would make a splendid representative of humanity. Competence and integrity, he combines these two virtues very well."

Anderson frowned for a moment before he responded: "I'm surprised that you … I'll have that in mind." He fetched a notepad and shoved it in Udina's direction. "The two marines you wanted for your team are on the Citadel now. They don't know that you'll be their new commander."

With a short look at the files on the pat Udina nodded. "I regret that Shepard, Pressly and the others died above Alchera. It had been a real good Crew. I hope my own will be at least half as good."

"Yes, they were. It is bad that the navy spread the rest about so many other ships and stations." As Rory said farewell Anderson added a last question: "Don't you want to know what happened to Kaidan and Ashley?"

Rory shook his head. "Kaidan was never of interest for me and Ashley …" a thin and uneasy smile showed on his face "I try hard to forget her."

.

_Quarters of the Consort – Citadel_

"I'm only for a short time on the Citadel, Nelyna, but I wanted to thank you for what you've done for Tali'Zorah."

Nelyna watched Rory intensely and tried to read his emotions. Refusal she saw directed towards her race. And there was uneasiness to thank an Asari but also the strong drive to do what this human thought to be necessary. "Liara bade me to help and she told me what you did for her on Tali's behalf."

For a moment Rory's eyes become soft and the uneasiness of standing here nearly left his face. "Liara had a hard time after her mother's death. She needed someone to convince her that the Goddess wouldn't want her to remain in this state of depression but to go on and walk forward strengthened thru her experience. What," Rory asked as he realized the expression on Nelyna's face? The asari Acolyte smiled:

"Exactly that had been what Shiala and I tried to show Liara. But we were not able to penetrate her barriers." After a moment of musing she added: "You know that it is a bit surprising that you believe so strongly in the teachings of the Goddess – I mean with your well-known refusal of my race." Looking at his face and the anger that showed there openly Nelyna instantly regretted her words but was unable to take them back now.

"The Goddess is the Goddess and her teachings are for every race. It is nothing that the Asari own, own as the many other things your people deny other races. Perhaps your people should spend more time meditating over her teachings and less in looking down on others from their enlightened places between arrogance and haughtiness. If you excuse me now, I have work to do."

As he walked away Nelyna gripped his arm ignoring the snarl and angry look he shot her. "Please accept my apology. You're correct about the Goddess' teaching. Perhaps the words had been written by Asari but the ideas behind them are for everyone and surely we had not been the first to realize them. I would like to speak with you another time again, perhaps together with Tali. If you see her, Liara or Shiala please give them my greetings."

Slowly Rory relaxed a bit. He nodded: "I'll do that. I hope to see at least Tali in short time. And I'm sorry about my outburst. Sometimes I have a hard time to realize that there are worthy persons even among Asari." Thinking shortly about his statement he added with a thin smile. "This was meant to be more of a compliment than it sounded."

"I understand the meaning," Nelyna smiled.

.

_Tantalus Bar – Market District – Citadel_

"You think they're here," Ganto asked Rory as they stood near the entrance of the bar? It was more like Chora's Den than the Flux. The bar only lacked the exotic dancers, but light, smell and noise level were the same. Rory pointed towards a woman standing at the counter, waiting for her drink. Slowly he went towards her and stopped two steps apart.

"A real nice ass you have there, sweetheart," he growled, grimacing as he saw the other customers around them hastily retreating. Obviously she had already been successful in making a bit of a reputation here. Slowly the red-haired woman turned around, showing green eyes in a face of hardly controlled anger. The pushed herself away from the counter and crossed the short distance. Without any hint of her purpose her left fist lashed out and connected solidly with his chin, sending him crashing to the floor.

With a smooth move she followed him and as his vision cleared he saw her sitting on his breast, Ganto a few steps aside grinning at the show. "Hello Falcon, I'm also happy to see you again."

She growled deeply and as she spoke to him every word was accompanied by a slap to his face, fast reddening his cheeks. "You … were … dead. You … have … not … told … me … a single … word …" After the tenth slap Rory gripped her hand, bent his back and throw her around, switching their positions and holding her wrists to the ground. His smile vanished as he said with a soft voice: "I'm sorry Falcon. I should have … I was unconscious for a long time and then … my mother visited me."

As he saw her anger melting away, realizing what this meant to him, Rory stood up and offered Falcon his hand. She accepted and let him drag her into his embrace. "Good to hear, Rory, but never again you'll give me such a scare."

Rory nodded and released her from his grip. As he walked towards the table were Corporal Jenkins was sitting, watching the events wide-eyed, Ganto accompanied them, nodding shortly towards the marines.

"So you're the reason for our presence on the Citadel," Falcon assumed?

"I am. This is Commander Ganto Imness, former STG platoon leader. He is my XO on the Spectre ship Ithaca. I'm in need of a few marines to add to my grounding team. Do you know anyone who would be willing to work with me?"

.

_Level 26 – Citadel_

So far Rory was really content with the events on the Citadel. Besides Falcon and Jenkins he had been able to convince Dr. Michel to join his crew as Ithaca's medical officer. He knew from Nelyna that not only her mother but Liara too should be on Illium. And now he was on his way to Captain Bailey of C-Sec to get some hints about the whereabouts of Garrus.

"I'm not a thief you bosh'tet." The tune of her voice and the choice of words, both very typical for a Quarian, caused Rory to turn around and look at the scene. A C-Sec officer, a Volus and a female Quarian were deepened in a bitter quarrel, their words loud enough to catch that the Volus demanded the Quarian to be arrested for stealing his credit card.

"She barged against me and after that my card was missing. She has to be the culprit. I expect you to arrest this vagrant." The wording and voice of the Volus did nothing to better Rory's opinion about his race and as he realized that the C-Sec obviously wanted to follow this demand he stepped in.

"Wait a moment." Stepping in front of the Quarian Rory had to suppress a smile as he saw how Falcon and Ganto immediately took covering positions. It was really nice to work with professionals again. Only Jenkins seemed to be a bit confused, but that would get better after some more training.

"And who are you? You're disturbing an official …"

With a slight yawn Rory responded: "Yeah, I see what you're doing: harassing a Quarian without any proof. I wonder what Captain Bailey would think about your racism. I'm just on my way to him, perhaps I should ask him." Turning around, ignoring that he nudged the Volus away in the motion, he smiled at the Quarian: "I am Spectre Rory Udina. Would you be so nice to tell me what this is all about?"

The quarian woman relaxed a bit: "I am Lia'Vael nar Ulnay. This bosh … I mean this Volus claimed that I have stolen his credit card. I have no idea where this card is or why he thinks that I would have stolen it."

The C-Sec officer tried to say something but Rory stopped him with a wave of his hand. "I'm happy to meet you, Lia'Vael. Nar Ulnay … born on the ship Ulnay, so I assume you're on your pilgrimage? Have you just started or returning to the flotilla?"

The silvery eyes below the visor widened. "You're very … you know about the meaning of our names and pilgrimage?" She wondered, then her eyes widened another time. "You're Spectre Udina." As Rory only smiled, she continued. "I mean that Spectre Udina."

Rory nodded: "The one and only. You've heard about me?"

"I fear for the worst." Falcon added, blinking harmlessly as Rory snarled in her direction.

"Certainly I have. You're the Spectre that Tali'Zorah vas Neema accompanied on her pilgrimage."

"This is all very nice and all, but could we …" the C-Sec officer tried to interject another time, causing Rory to give a very deep sigh.

"Falcon, over there is a clothing shop. Please accompany Miss Lia'Vael over there and search for the card. And Ganto, you'll follow the way this honorable Volus went the last hour and ask the shopkeepers if they've seen anything. This overzealous C-Sec officer will go with you. We'll wait at Captain Bailey's bureau." Ignoring the Volus and officer he addressed Lia'Vael another time: "I'm sorry, Lia'Vael, I don't think that you're the culprit but we should sort this out."

.

_Bureau of Captain Bailey – Citadel_

"I'm not very happy about this, Captain Bailey. With all the changes in C-Sec and you as the new Captain of this important part of the Citadel I had hoped that you would use the chance to change something about the behavior towards the Quarians. They're no thieves, vagrants or beggars. And you should know this."

That Ganto had been able to retrieve the Volus' credit card from a shopkeeper where it had been forgotten, had done nothing to better his mood. Now a very silent Captain Bailey and a bit confused Lia'Vael were following his little speech.

"You know as well as me that Quarians are not a nuisance but a real asset for the Citadel. They are well-educated with a broad base of technological skills; hard-working and even the poorest would never fall so low to become criminals. Look into your files. I bet you would be unable to find more than a handful of crimes committed by a Quarian. Compare that to any other race. For every Quarian thief I show you a dozen Volus cheaters and smugglers, for every Quarian beggar you'll find a dozen human thugs and batarian pirates." Rory gave a frustrated growl. "I really had hoped that something would change after a Quarian … yes a Quarian and not a Volus … rescued the Council half a year ago."

At last Bailey raised his hand in submission. "You don't have to convince me. I know that you're right about this. I have to admit that I hadn't thought this …" He sighed. "I didn't think this to be important. There aren't many Quarians for more than a few days on the Citadel. But … okay, I can't promise but at least I'll try."

"More can't be expected. If at least C-Sec treats them fair, this could change something on the long run. These Quarians are young people the first time away from home. This experience is hard enough; we shouldn't make it any more complicated."

As they left the bureau with Bailey's good wishes and the hint that Garrus should be still on Omega, Lia'Vael addressed Rory: "I … wasn't convinced that the stories about you were true. I'm sorry … and thankful."

"Good to hear," Rory responded with a warm smile. "Are you sorry and thankful enough to follow a proposal? I'm in need of another technician for my team. Depending on your skills and preferences you would belong to the ship's crew or my grounding team."

Lia'Vael was taken aback: "You … you mean I would work with you … for a Spectre … as Tali'Zorah did?"

Rory answered with a soft voice: "Not as Tali'Zorah perhaps. She was … very special for me. But yes, you would work with me. I can't promise any result comparing to what she got for her pilgrimage but certainly it would be better than anything you could expect here or working on a normal ship. Do you agree?"

Her silvery eyes shining she answered with delight in her voice: "Yes, I agree."


	9. Chapter 9 Visits

**Visits**

_Captain's Quarters – Freighter Ithaca – leaving the Citadel_

In silence Second Lieutenant Tamara Brant, codename Falcon, watched Rory preparing the meal. That he had used the time at the Citadel to integrate a small kitchen into his very spacious Captain's quarters was only another sign of his very unusual skills and preferences. He liked to cook for good friends, had done the same years ago as they served in the same unit with him being her squad leader. And he was good at it, even if he had only a limited number of receipts in his cooking book. Pepper steak, salad and baked potato were planned for today. And the dessert would be his famous crème brûlée. _The first dessert at least_, as Tamara hoped with a smile.

It was visible that his room was still in the phase of furnishing. Only a handful of personal items could be seen, the most prominent being a charcoal picture of Tali'Zorah, depicting her as she worked on a machine with an endless number of parts scattered around her. The picture was not really good, neither the relative scales of the body parts nor the whole viewing angle were correct, but it was still visible how intensive his memory about her had to be. She knew that he created the picture on Sur'Kesh and for a moment she wondered if he would be able to make something similar about her.

"Less thinking, more eating," Rory mocked her as he left the kitchen and placed a wonderful smelling steak in front of her.

"Rory, you're too good to me." The pleasure showed clearly on her face as she inhaled.

"It is only to soothe my fiery redhead. I don't want to receive another beating."

"Pah, next time I know that your death is only faked. And I don't believe that getting Dr. Michel near your skin is something you regret too much. Caressing hands and all, you know," Tamara smirked wickedly.

Rory made a show of a relaxed smile: "Yes, Dr. Michel, her gentle hands," he sighed, continuing hastily as Tamara growled deeply: "Not that I wouldn't prefer other hands to caress my skin."

The growl switched into a smile but for a while Tamara looked thoughtfully at him. After some moments she stated with a soft, compassionate voice, way out of her normal behavior: "You know, Rory, that I don't love you. You're a friend for me and I like to be a tad more sometimes, but that's it. And I'm no substitute for Ash."

Rory nodded and padded her hand slightly: "I know, Tam. I don't see you as a kind of consolation prize. I like to spend time with you and in the right mood I desire a bit more. But I won't hinder you if you're looking for someone else. And you can be assured that I haven't commandeered you because of … I wanted to have you around me because I trust you and I know how competent you are. The promotion is not a kind of bribery."

Tamara grinned back: "Good to hear, because you should know: if I ever hear you scream her name, your recuperation from Virmire will look like a holiday for you after me showing you my … displeasure."

.

_Lia'Vael's Quarters – Freighter Ithaca – near Quarian Flotilla_

After some minutes Tali'Zorah and Rory were finally able to end the hearty embrace they had started instantly after entering Lia'Vael's quarters. I had been Lia's first duty on board of the Ithaca to change her quarters following the blueprints Rory had kept from the Normandy. After a short welcoming of Tali and Kal'Reegar – the Quarian being her honor guard on the visit – Lia had proposed them to use her quarters.

"It is so good to see you again, Tali … I really missed you." Rory couldn't help but to follow the impulse and drag her small frame into his hearty embrace anew. She wriggled out of his embrace and ordered him, her finger pressing the tip of his nose: "Leave my ribs intact, Rory. If you bruise me, Kal'Reegar won't allow another visit in the near future."

"So, won't he? And this Kal'Reegar, he has anything to say about your company?" He smiled, his face showing a slight question.

"He is a friend, a good friend but no more. And he cares about me."

"Good to hear. I already like him. And you're sure about that I don't have to break his nose for unduly harassing my little sister," he asked with a light mock in his voice?

Tali punched against his breast: "Don't dare to touch him."

"Ouch, Tali, you know that I bruise easily." He threw his hands in the air in mocking submission: "Alright, I leave him alone … for now."

.

_CIC – Freighter Ithaca – leaving Quarian Flotilla_

"Thank you, Lia, for offering your quarters. It was very nice to see Tali again and feel her embrace."

"You're welcome," the Quarian answered with a smile. "It was the least I could do. I owe her so much. Without her making a good impression on the Normandy I wouldn't stay here and I wouldn't have these quarters in the first. Never had I hoped … this is all very surprising for me."

Rory asked with a smile: "I hope a positive surprise?" After her nod he continued: "I've not much experience with your people, only Tali I've got to know. Please tell me if I do something stupid. You're not Tali but it may be possible that I transfer my knowledge about her preferences onto you and make a mistake in the process. You're a member of my team now and my office is open for you whenever there is the need to speak."

As Lia left the CIC, Rory thought about the hours he had spent with Tali. It had been wonderful to hear her voice again. He had told her about Sur'Kesh, about his convalescence and the visit of his mother. And she narrated how her welcome at the flotilla had been, her grief about her father's neutral behavior and her time on the Neema. Rory was relieved that she had found a good friend in Kal'Reegar. He seemed to be a competent, trustworthy soldier. At least he could be sure that she was moderately secure without him around.

He had notepads with messages from her for Garrus, Liara and Nelyna and hoped that he would be able to deliver them. Slowly the flotilla faded away on the monitor that showed the area behind the Ithaca. _Omega, I'm coming_.

.

_Afterlife – Omega_

_Rory, you're the only man I know that not only avoids to be turned on by the looks and moves of an Asari Dancer but even seems to lower his body temperature in their vicinity_. Rory remembered Garrus' snide remark as he crossed thru the gathered public of the Afterlife bar like a battleship in full flight. I was like Chora's Den on the Citadel but tenfold, tenfold in smell, in noises and everything.

The batarian bouncer silently stepped aside to allow him and Falcon entrance to Aria's place, a platform that allowed full sight onto every place of Afterlife's upper level. Without order Falcon took a watching position while Rory closed the small gap to Aria, bowing lightly in front of the Asari Crime lord.

"Rory Udina, now we meet at last. I've heard many things about you."

"Certainly less than I about you, Lady Aria," Rory responded. Her smile about his flattery was fleeting, but she remained relaxed. "I was surprised to hear that you would be my next … deliverer of goods."

Following her gesture Rory took a seat on the u-shaped couch. "With the delivery I only repay Mrs. Blake a small favor. And I already planned to visit Omega, so it hadn't been a detour."

"I understand. But … don't you have … reservations about trading weapons?"

Rory shrugged. "Why should I? Every weapon that left the Citadel is a weapon less to threaten the good and honorable citizens there." He pressed an unhappy smile before he continued. "And with you as the de-facto-regent of Omega … who else could be a better and more trustworthy recipient?"

For a while the Asari examined Rory's stance and expression. For her it was clearly visible that he didn't like her, but she couldn't decide if it was something personal or only the dislike for her race she had already heard him to have.

"It is nothing personal." His simple statement surprised her, but she was able to suppress her face to pale. It happened not very often that someone was able to read her face and this from a human. "Instead I heard some …" for a moment Rory battled with words. "Mrs. Blake told me that you're all around trustworthy … and dangerous." Both smiled shortly at this revelation. "But I have to admit that even with your extra-ordinary combination of intellect, appearance and experience" – Aria realized that he stated this description not as a flattery but simply as facts – "I can't forget that you're … Asari. But it is nothing personal."

A look in his eyes proved Aria that they could be trading partners or foes, depending on her decision, but never friends. Sometimes, she decided, she should spare some energy to find background information about him, telling her why he despised her people so much. Not that it was really important.

"I've no problem with that. Open words can be refreshing sometimes. But you told me that you wanted to visit Omega even before your small arrangement with Mrs. Blake. Anything I could help around?"

"I'm sure you could, Lady Aria. I'm searching for a friend, Garrus Vakarian. I heard he's on Omega and perhaps in contact with you."

"He is. After our small arrangement – Mrs. Blake told you why he came to Omega? – "after Rory's nod she continued: "he stayed here to pay off for my help in the matter. Now he's working for me from time to time. At least if he's able to leave his small war against the Blue Suns behind for a few hours. No, I won't tell you why he is doing that. You should ask him yourself."

.

_Garrus' storehouse – Omega_

"You're really hard to find, Garrus," Rory growled as they clasped hands. With Aria's help it had been possible to arrange a meeting. Now they were in an old, almost unused storehouse on one of Omega's lower levels. Aside from Garrus he saw a wild mix of Humans, Batarians, Turians and even a pair of Krogans.

"There have been some misunderstandings between me and the Blue Suns, so I have to be a bit careful."

"Misunderstandings, yes," Rory asked with a grin? "Do you have any idea how they started?"

Garrus seemed a bit exhausted but healthy. A few new scars were visible but else he was okay. "It started with the Blue Suns selling Shepard's body. They found him on Alchera and brought him to Omega to make a little auction about him. As Liara and I arrived to buy him there had been some complications. Two times they tried to assassinate us. So our relation is a bit strained now."

"I see. Do you need anything? I've still good relations to Helena Blake. I could send you weapons, armor or other equipment."

Garrus nodded. "That would be helpful. And you don't want to haggle me out of this?"

Rory shrugged: "Why should I try? You're a big mean Turian. You don't need a nurse. Only try to stay alive."


	10. Chapter 10 Space' Pearl

**Space' Pearl**

_Illium – six months after the battle of the Citadel_

The difference to Omega couldn't be greater. _Illium, Asari Colony founded a mere 500 years ago, population 85 million, gravity 20% higher than terran standard_. As far as Rory knew Illium was similar to Noveria in that Corporations more or less owned the place. Dantius Corporations was the most well-known among them, equally renowned for its pharmaceutical products as infamous for the business practices of its ruling Dantius family.

To see Lia'Vael looking around the open space, the gardens a level below and the many shops around with an incredible range of goods made Rory happy. That he allowed a smile to show openly on his lips told Ganto how relaxed Rory was in this moment. They had to have an eye on Lia'Vael's activities – not because of her behavior but the attitude of Asari towards Quarians – but apart from this the stay on Illium should be a nice one.

Thinking back about Omega and the meetings there he was relieved that Garrus hadn't come with them. He still needed some time to get used to Rory, to learn how to interact with him and work as a team. Someone as Garrus – very experienced and a good friend of Rory – would only reduce the chances to accomplish this.

Slowly working thru the shops with Rory showing that he was in charge but allowing Lia'Vael to inspect the goods and state her opinion, they slowly neared the destination of their visit and Ganto was able to see how his boss slowly left his relaxed mood behind and began to get a bit nervous.

He already had expected Rory to be much more agitated simple thru the closeness of all those Asari, but until now he had been very civilized and polite, another sign of his good mood. With a sigh, obviously deciding that more delay wouldn't help, Rory crossed the last steps and went up the stairs. A young Asari was sitting at a desk near the door that should lead to Liara's bureau.

_Young, but older than Liara_, Rory mused_. I always forget how young she is in relation to other Asari. Comparable to Tali'Zorah … no, not comparable, only being her age_.

Caught in his thoughts he shortly nodded towards the Asari and headed to the door, ignoring the Asari's confused look as he simply opened the door and entered. The slightly angry look of Liara melted away as she realized who was paying her a visit. As her guest turned around to follow Liara's look – _Shiala_, Rory thought and halted his steps. Instantly his face went a hint darker and Liara could see how barriers came up in his mind and behind his eyes. Trying to soothe the mood she stepped nearer and offered him her hand and bestowed him a smile.

_Liara, this is Liara, you dork. She melted with you to share the Cipher with you. You shared the memory of Cathleen with her to help her survive the death of her mother. She did all in her might to support Tali'Zorah after Virmire. And she did … this thing with Garrus about Shepard's body_. The situation was really awkward with Rory standing in front of her, his hands at his sides, his eyes on her outstretched hand, nobody speaking a word_. She is an Asari, she belongs to this race, she can't be _…

With a hint of disappointment in her eyes Liara dropped her hand and started to turn around as Rory did the unthinkable. Allowing his barriers to vanish and his face to soften he closed the gap to Liara and without a word gripped her by her shoulders. She stiffened and looked very confused, but he didn't stop the motion and instead dragged her body against his breast. His arms went around her and embraced her, not heartily as he had done with Tali'Zorah but gently. After some seconds of disbelieve Liara relaxed again and let her head rest against his shoulder, embracing him, holding tight to him as if her life would depend on it.

Forgetting the persons around him, ignoring the smile on Shiala's face and the surprised expression of Ganto, Rory allowed one mental barrier after the other to fall. He remembered how the melting with her had been and his conversation with her about Benezia and Cathleen. _How horrible must it have been to go to Omega to rescue Shepard's body? But she did it. And now she is her as an information broker, trying to get information about the shadow Broker, to battle one of the most dangerous persons in Citadel Space, to rescue a friend_.

Garrus had told him about Feron and the adventures they went thru together. How often their relation had changed as they detected that Feron worked for every side in this maze of deceit. But at last Feron had sacrificed himself to allow Liara to escape with Shepard's body. _Goddess, she is a damned archaeologist; she shouldn't be forced to do such things_. Rory felt her body weaken, sensed her need for comfort and the support of a friend. He wouldn't be allowed to stay for long but at least he could give her this moment of relief.

As they ended the embrace, both not really willing to do so, Rory turned around. "May I introduce you: Dr. Liara T'Soni, a good friend of mine? What Tali'Zorah is with her magical tools and Garrus with his sniper rifle, she is with her beautiful mind."

Liara staggered a bit. _He called me his friend. Rory seems to have changed for the better_. The Asari turned to Ganto and Lia'Vael to greet them. The Quarian shook Liara's hand. "It is nice to meet you, Dr. T'Soni, I heard so much about you."

"Yes, she is a very unusual Asari." Rory responded instead of the blushing Liara. As he tried to continue Liara stopped him. "Rory, stop, don't destroy this moment." He shortly looked at Shiala before he turned his eyes back on Liara: "I only meant …"

The Asari stepped forward and put a finger on his lips: "I know what you meant. Don't …"

Forcing him to relax Rory nodded in compliance. "You're right, Liara." With a sigh he continued, slumping in one of the seats: "And now tell me about your plans …"

.

Confusion, this was the most prominent emotion Rory had as he wandered thru the halls of the Illium market. _Damn it, Liara_, he scolded himself_. It was bad enough that I allowed myself to show these emotions towards you, but how could I propose Shiala to join my crew_?

But he knew the cause. He knew the practical reason: that he needed someone to train his biotics and to have some additional biotic power in his team, the other members being more than enough to have around for technical knowledge and firepower. Shiala, not only nearing her middle age phase but also with more than two centuries of training with Benezia would be more than able to fulfill these duties. But at least to himself he was able to acknowledge that he had asked her because of other reasons that had nothing to do with her skills.

Suppressing her emotions as good as possible Shiala had told about her time with the settlers of Zhu's Hope. How she tried to help them. And help they needed, especially as ExoGeni had left the planet after the disaster with the Thorian. But as the weeks changed to months she had to realize that she wasn't really welcome there. Sure, there were some among the settlers that tried to be friendly and open, but most of them were unable to forget the past, to grasp that she hadn't worked for the Thorian out of her own free will. And she was an Asari, the only one around dozens of humans. She had always been the foreigner. And this strained relation hadn't improved as the problems began with the Asari Corporation Baria Frontiers.

These problems were the reason for the Baynhams, mother and daughter, to visit Illium. Shiala had decided to accompany them, trying to solve these problems. But irrelevant what the outcome would be, she would stay on Illium. As she sat in Liara's room, trying to hold back the tears, trying to feign self-assurance she no longer had in her heart after Benezia's death and her mind-shattering experiences as a part of the Thorian … Liara hadn't said a word, had only looked pleadingly at Rory. _Damn it, Liara, this is your fault_.

.

"No, I won't annul the contract," the Asari said even before she turned around. "I'm Erinya, the Baria Frontier representative on Illium. I saw you with the Baynhams. I know why you're here. They made the contract; they'll stick to their contract."

_I know her, I've seen her somewhere_, Udina wondered while he searched for words to convince her. "But this contract …"

"… Is legally binding and correct. We've sent the materials and engines they needed and in response they'll follow their part and allow us our examinations."

Looking at the details Rory only needed some minutes to detect the problems. The settlers allowed Baria Frontiers to make not only simple examinations but some that could have drastic repercussions to the respective health.

"They should have read the contract more carefully. It is not my problem that they were unable to grasp the meaning of it."

Taken aback by her cold-heartedness Rory gasped. "How can you be so cold? These experiments could injure them, perhaps even kill."

"And what," the Asari asked? "They are only humans."

The moment tore into great length as Rory had the impression to look into a mirror. _She hates humans as I do Asari_. He gulped: "Why do you hate humans so much?"

"I don't …" she hesitated, then something broke in her as she continued: "They killed my little Saphyria. As the Geth attacked the Citadel the humans closed the door of the panic room behind them and let her die. For years she had worked for them but in that moment they deserted my little darling."

_The picture, I've seen her on the picture in Nelyna's room_. "You … you're the mother of Saphyria and Nelyna," he more stated than asked. As she stared at him with a bit of confusion and slightly nodded, Rory continued: "I've known her. She was always nice and helpful, never answered …" Rory halted his words for a moment before he was able to go on with a somewhat trembling voice. "She never answered in kind as I would have deserved it. I'm not easy to have around for Asari but she never showed … A few weeks ago is met Nelyna again. She told me about Saphyria and how she missed her."

Erinya's sobbing interrupted him shortly. "Nelyna is an astonishing woman and I'm sure that someday she'll be an excellent consort. She has a great heart full of compassion for everyone, irrespective of race. And I'm sure that Saphyria was the same. You must have been a wonderful mother to raise two such daughters."

Slowly, very slowly as if he feared to hurt her, Rory touched her shoulder. "Erinya, what happened to Saphyria is terrible, but please don't deduce from what some humans did to be true for all humans." _I'm such a hypocrite, what else it is that I'm doing all these years_? "These settlers have endured so much in the war against Saren and the Geth. Please don't increase that. Think what your daughters would do. Don't use Saphyria's death as an excuse to do such terrible things to those that don't deserve this."

.

_Eternity Bar – Illium_

"I thank you so much, Rory," Dr. Baynham pressed his arm and smiled happily. "The new contract is much better. That you were able to convince her."

Rory shrugged uneasy. "She was hurt, I can understand this. She'll need some time to cope with the past but I think she will do better next time. And Lizbeth: the proposal holds. If you've finished what you have to do on Feros, there is a position waiting for you on the Ithaca. My crew is nearly complete but I could need a young aspiring scientist."

He smiled as Lizbeth Baynham blushed. Instead of her Dr. Baynham answered. "This would be wonderful. She could learn so much."

Rory nodded. "The laboratory isn't bad, we'll always have new things to examine but she would have time for her own projects. And certainly she could gain advantage of the cooperation with some of the salarian scientists I know." As Lizbeth tried to interrupt he stopped her with his raised hand: "I know, you don't want to desert your people. I only say: think about it. I give you time, let us say you have three months."

Looking over Lizbeth's shoulder he watched as Shiala left the counter where she had spoken for a long time with an elderly asari waitress: "A friend of you, Shiala?"

Shiala hesitated for a moment. "A friend, yes, an old friend she was of … Benezia to be exact. I'll tell you later." As she looked back she saw the slightest nod of the waitress as if she would allow her to share her knowledge.


	11. Chapter 11 Biotic Repercussions

**Biotic Repercussions**

_Conference Room – Freighter Ithaca – on the way to Presrop, Century System – 1 year after the battle of the Citadel_

Staring at the notepad in front of him Rory waited for his crew to gather. Since six months his team had been working together, six months of gathering information, hunting criminals and eradicating pirates. The time had been exhausting, diversified and successful. He had got to know his other team members and now they were working well together. Splitting them in two teams of three – he with Falcon and Jenkins, Ganto with Lia'Vael and Shiala – he more than once stayed back and gave Ganto the possibility to work on his own. As expected the Salarian was a very competent soldier and leader. His quiet and deliberate style worked very well with them and Rory had seen a remarkable improvement especially at Lia'Vael's self-assuredness and combat skills.

He tried to train with her as often as possible, working hard to show her that she had as much to train him in pure technical skills as he had to teach her in the field of technical subterfuge. On one side he feared the moment she would leave his team and be ready to go home, but he was very willing to bring her forward to exactly that point. And Lia'Vael seemed to realize that and was only the more willing to do her best.

Shiala was another point he often had to think about. In the beginning she had been very reserved, most of the time being alone. Sure, he had spent many hours with her training his biotic skills and she seemed to like the missions with Ganto, but apart from that she did nothing to integrate herself in the crew. Rory had tried to change this and sent Falcon and even Lia'Vael to Shiala's room to call her out for common meal or a joined shore leave. And indeed after two months she slowly seemed to thaw.

As he thanked Falcon for her success some weeks later, shortly before Lizbeth Baynham agreed to join his crew, she only looked at him with this very special expression and called him a dork. Obviously she had no inclination to explain and he was still wondering about it. But he couldn't deny that Shiala had been much more relaxed and more than once joined the others of her own accord. This had only got better as Lizbeth came on board. Rory had stipulated with her that she could leave on short notice if her mother needed her. Now his spare time was equally divided in tech training with Lia'Vael, biotic teaching with Shiala and scientific exchange with Lizbeth.

Rory knew that he was really lucky that there hadn't been a larger conflict but only many small ones around, leaving him much more spare time than he was used to have. And to his relief Ganto even seemed to enjoy doing paper work, something Rory hated from all of his heart.

_Kaidan_, Rory watched the human biotic, in between promoted to Lieutenant Commander, enter the room and taking place near Falcon. He seemed to like her as much as she despised him, something Rory was not very happy about. And he wasn't sure how much of her disliking was because of his own reservations towards Kaidan. They had met again for the first time since Virmire on the annual celebration in honor of the victory of the Battle of the Citadel. There had been many speeches, some statues to present – of which Rory liked Tali's the most – and many drinks to share with all those _honorable, mighty and important people_. Rory had to suppress his urge to gag.

Tali'Zorah hadn't been able to join the celebration because of an important mission. Rory was really happy that he had been able to see her again six weeks ago as he used the time between some missions to visit her, Liara and even good old mother Earth. It had been his second visit to Cathleen's grave since his awakening and made it clear that he had a long way to go before he had back a normal relationship to his mother.

From the old crew only Kaidan and Ashley had been there, First Lieutenant Ashley Williams, now working on a ship that patrolled the edge of the Terminus Systems and gave military and technical support to the smaller and more or less independent settlements there. Both he had tried to avoid and with Ash he had been successful in that, exchanging no more than a handful of sentences. She seemed to be a tad disappointed by his behavior and Rory was relieved that at least Falcon had stayed silent about the matter. _But Kaidan_ … with a sigh Rory stood up and all went silent around him.

"As you know we're on our way to the planet Presrop in the Century system. A few weeks ago the Council together with the Alliance sent some representatives to clear the status of the settlement that had been erected there under the guidance of the so called Father Kyle, former major of alliance navy. These representatives vanished and we are to examine the details and detain possible culprits. Lt. Alenko had been under Kyle's command some years ago and the Council hopes that he would have better prospects of success."

Falcon bowed her head to hide her smile. _The Council hopes, so obviously you don't_.

"But this mission is not time-critical and so the Council allowed us to react to a distress signal. It had been sent by the crew of the Freighter MSV Ontario in the Farinata system. As it seems some members of a group of biotic terrorist complain about the decision that receivers of L2-implants don't get reparation for the negative side effects. They took hostages; one of them is Chairman Burns, a parliamentary of the Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies. We'll have to go there, rescue him and the other hostages and do this with a minimum of casualties. Lt. Alenko, you're a L2 yourself and I hope you to be able to negotiate with the terrorists."

"I'll do my best," Kaidan agreed.

Rory narrowed his eyes shortly, not fully convinced.

.

_MSV Ontario – Escape Airlock – Farinata System_

"Falcon, today you'll lead team gold. Kaidan and Shiala belong to you." It hadn't been the first time that Rory showed his disrespect towards Kaidan and ordered someone to lead him that was of a lower rank. _At least it is not a sergeant again_. "Lia and Jenkins, you'll stay here as backup, you're team silver. Ganto and I are team red; we'll enter under protection of our stealth systems and try to neutralize any guards with Taser weapons."

Gesturing Ganto to take point position Rory activated his stealth system. He knew that he wasn't invisible now – systems that allowed that were out of his reach in the moment – but as long as they stayed in the shadows and avoided to step right in front of someone they should stay undetected. Silently they crossed the corridors, stopping twice to disable sensors. He expected the terrorist's leader to be near the cockpit with his hostage. It was too bad that he had no idea about the number of terrorists involved in this. Steps neared. Hastily they took cover and waited for the patrol to round the corner. Before he had time to react both triggered their Tasers and Ganto jumped forward to catch the falling body. They stored the body away, shackled him and took his communicator before they advanced again.

"We're nearing main level now; only one guard so far. Obviously they stored the crew away somewhere, the quarters are empty. Team gold may start to follow slowly."

Voices reached their ears a short time later. Two persons, a man and a woman, were arguing. A third voice, very cultivated and trying to sound secure, intervened.

"You should give up. If you let me free now, I'll speak in your case to. You've killed no one so far, please be reasonable."

"Reasonable? I shall be reasonable? And that comes from you after you denied us reparations after all we went thru?"

Rory whispered into his comm: "Team gold close up to us. We've found the terrorists." With activated stealth he looked around the corner. "The hostage is alive. I see four terrorists, three crewmembers and Burns."

While team gold neared their position, Rory and Ganto followed the discussion in the cockpit. Shortly before the others reached their point, their luck ran out. Another pair of steps neared. A young man came into sight and instantly startled as he saw the outlines of their stealth systems. Avoiding the first Taser shot he instinctively lashed out with his biotics, pushing Ganto against the wall. Rory took another shot, but was too late to catch the body before his fall to the ground.

Jolted by the combat noises the discussion in the cockpit ended and Rory heard how they took defensive positions. "Who's there? Show yourself." _Damn it_.

With a sigh Rory deactivated his stealth system, holstered his Taser and rounded the corner, showing himself openly. Three weapons were pointed at him, the holding hands shaking what made the situation only the more dangerous. The leader grabbed Burns and pressed a pistol against his head.

"I'm Spectre Rory Udina." His announcement was greeted by some whispers. "I'm here to end this situation peacefully if any possible."

"And if it is not possible? Will you shoot us then?"

Rory listened to the nearing steps of team gold and relaxed. "This won't be necessary."

As Kaidan at last stepped into view, Rory hurried aside to let him take over the discussion. He hoped that it would go better than his fear pictured him the outcome.

.

_Mess Room – Freighter Ithaca – on the way to Presrop, Century System_

"You know that it had been the right decision." Ganto looked up from his meal and stared at his boss, trying to soothe him. Obviously Rory was still very angry about the outcome on the Ontario.

"Damned Alenko," Rory hissed. "Couldn't he for once forget his wonderful alliance regulations? He acted as if someone shoved him a pile of regulation book right in the ass up to his neck. Arg, Ganto, he is an L2 himself. If he doesn't understand the feelings of those so called terrorists, who else could?"

Ganto shrugged: "He did what he thought to be correct."

With a broad smile Falcon joined them, tousling Rory's hair. "You know, it had a reason that you ordered him to follow my command irrespective of his superior rank. And it had a reason that you disliked him all the time. Not to forget the reasons why you left the navy altogether."

Rory growled at her: "You're not helpful." Picking lackluster at his meal Rory thought about the events on the Ontario. Instead of soothing the conflict Kaidan had been able to raise the terrorists' anger, all the time demanding that they lay down their weapons even before negotiations could start. In the end their leader had lost his nerves and Rory was forced to shoot at him.

"That was an incredible shot you made. Twelve yards and straight into the weapon-hand," Falcon patted his forearm. "I wouldn't have the nerve to try such a shot."

Rory smiled shortly: "If I had missed we would have a politician less to unnerve us. But this opinion …"

Falcon grinned: "It is our little dirty secret." She looked at the medical center's door. "What do you think? How are they going?"

Officially to guarantee his welfare Rory had demanded that Burns came on board of the Ithaca together with the terrorists. After Dr. Michel treated his wounded hand, the terrorists' leader and Burns were now discussing – with Dr. Michel a kind of moderator and authority about biotic amplifier side effects – how things could go on, irrespective of legal punishments for the abduction.

Rory sighed: "I hope Burns will realize that these biotics are no criminals but humans that had been ill-treated far too long." He grimaced shortly and continued without joy: "If not I fear there will be a small incident involving a messed up airlock."


	12. Chapter 12 Depressed

**Depressed**

_._

_Flux Bar – Citadel – 1 year after the battle of the Citadel_

Shouldn't she be happy? Shouldn't she be content? After years of stagnation her career had made a turn for the better. With much tears, sweat and blood she had been able to absolve the N7-training and exactly one year after he promotion to second lieutenant she received the next one. Now she was First Lieutenant Ashley Williams, Ground Operations Leader of the TSS Batavia. Not the most glorious job and most of the time she was sitting on the ground of one of the less-important settlements of the Terminus Systems, but it was another step forward – as Rear Admiral Kahoku had stated as she accepted her new position.

She really loved her job – at least most of the time. _My own team, my own decision, my own responsibility_, Ash mused. But she missed the time on the Normandy, she missed her old comrades. And most of all she missed him – Shepard. She downed her drink and ordered the next as someone sat down next to her.

"I see you're already getting a head start," Anderson stated with a hint of care.

"Hello Counc … Anderson," Ashley still had qualms about disregarding Councilor Anderson's title as he had told her to do. She ordered the waitress to bring another glass and a bottle and used the meantime to look at her former Captain. "You look like shit … Sir," she showed him a broad grin but her eyes told Anderson that Ashley meant her words.

"The celebration had been a bit exhausting. I hadn't any spare time for … I have no idea how long." Slowly he poured some Bourbon in his glass. Pointing to the flask he added: "You shouldn't squander your hard earned money in this way, Ash."

She stopped him with a wave of her hand: "Only the best for my old captain." Her emphasis of the word 'old' caused him to smile. "I see you're just as insolent as one year ago."

Ashley grinned back: "I learned from the best."

They put down their drinks in silence, watching the other customers around them. Most of the visitors that had come to the Citadel to be part of the celebration had already left and slowly the usual routine kicked in again.

"How's your new job, Ash? Are you content with your work for ol' Kahoku?"

Playing with her empty glass Ash stayed silent for a while, thinking about the question and how much she should tell him about her emotions. "The work isn't bad. Most of the time I'm able to take my own decisions and even with many settlers distrusting my uniform after a while they're able to cooperate – at least most of the time."

"But you still miss the action of the Normandy?" Anderson asked sympathetically.

Ashley nodded: "Yes, I do. After my N7 training I hoped to get … other jobs. As Rear Admiral Kahoku ordered my transfer into his command, I hoped that …

"That he wouldn't use you as a kind of technological fire brigade," Anderson complemented.

"Yes, something like this," Ashley agreed. "I mean: he has his own commando groups, why … I feel wrong commanding these technicians. I always wanted to be a real soldier. Changing my rifle for a spanner …"

"I know what you mean, Ashley. Trust me, I know it," Anderson said with a sad smile. He sighed and continued: "Not all members of the admiralty were content with the events around the Normandy. Some of them thought the whole program to be an error, especially the fact that the ship was under the Council's jurisdiction and not of the navy's. The most outspoken had been Rear Admiral Mikhailovitch but he wasn't the only one. I know that you had reservations yourself about letting all those aliens on board and somehow it is quite ironic that this cooperation with non-humans now is a sore spot on your file."

Ashley shook her head: "I learned, learned to cooperate. Perhaps I'll never trust them as Shepard did or Udina, but …"

Anderson padded her arm. "Good to hear, we really need to learn that humanity isn't alone out there."

Ashley sighed, filling her glass anew. "And now, with Shepard dead, it is certainly not helpful that he proposed my promotion to officer rank and N7."

Anderson shot her a confused look: "How did you get that idea?"

"The idea that he proposed or that it is unfavorable now," Ashley asked?

"That he proposed your promotion."

"How else … I mean, you know as well as me that with my family's history I would have stayed a NCO for lifetime without some kind of mentor." Staring at Anderson thoughtfully she added after a while: "I've to admit that he denied it, as I asked him. He said something about your positive reports and all. Had he been right?"

"No, he wasn't. I don't know if he knew the … history of your promotion but neither he nor I have much to do with it."

"But … then … how," Ashley tried to complete her question but was unable to do so.

"Do you remember your Luna mission? Admiral Hacket had asked Udina to undertake that mission because he knew that Udina had been serving there and he had the needed experience and skills to succeed were the other, much greater team before had failed. But he could only ask, not order him to do so. Udina agreed with one condition: that Hacket reviewed your dossier personally and acted on basis of your performances. He demanded that Hacket handles you solely based on what you did and not on your name."

Anderson watched the wide-eyed Ashley for a moment before he continued. "Hacket told me later about the red ears he had at that moment. How pissed he was about this insolent junior officer that dared to tell him that you had been treated unfair. How bad he felt after reading your dossier, realizing that Udina had been totally correct about all of this." Slowly and carefully worded he added: "Don't ever think that you didn't deserve this promotion or that you got it only because of some mentor. All he did was to demand that you're to be treated fairly – no more but also no less."

.

_Conference Room – Freighter Ithaca – Orbit around Presrop, Century System_

"No, Lt. Alenko, you'll stay on board. Take care of Chairman Burns, read a good book or do whatever you like but I won't allow you to hinder negotiations … again," Rory growled. His eyes shot daggers at Kaidan. How he had come to hate this man. No, hate wasn't quite right. Hate required a quantum of respect, the idea that the other person was important enough to be hated. Disgust it was what he sensed.

Not a single day had passed since they left the Farinata System without them haggling over his treatment of the biotic kidnappers. _At least it had been him that the Admiralty sent with me and not Ash_. Kaidan he could ignore or despise, depending on his mood. Rory wasn't so sure that he could stay calm with Ash on board of the Ithaca. He had only spoken a few sentences with her on the Citadel and even so he had been dreaming about her for weeks.

"This is not acceptable. The Admiralty ordered me to make the negotiations and …" Rory stopped Kaidan's rumbling as he smashed his fist on the table, glaring angrily.

"Now shut up, Alenko. My ship, my order, capice," he growled?

.

_Biotic Commune – Moon Presrop_

"Father Kyle is willing to speak with you," the young woman said with a hint of trepidation and care in her voice. "But you have to leave behind your weapons."

To Falcon's surprise Rory followed the order without hesitation and left her at the commune's entrance with the weapons while he and Shiala followed the young biotic. Falcon hissed silently. Obviously Rory had expected this and only ordered her to escort him as a kind of backup. Shortly she turned towards Lia'Vael and shrugged before she stared at the corridor again and awaited Rory's return … or hints of some combat.

Kaidan would start some trouble if they returned to the Citadel, that for sure. She could only hope that Rory was successful. A complaint was much less impressive if the outcome of the operation was right. But … would it be right?

"Rory," she whispered into her comm.

"Yes sweetheart," his answer came, his tune proving that he had expected her call.

"Damned bastard you," she growled. Forcing her to relax, she asked: "The Admiralty, do you think they want Kyle to give in? I mean …"

As an answer she heard that snigger of him that she hated so much. "Obviously not, honey, do you think they're so stupid to send someone like Alenko if they really wanted this situation to be cleared peacefully?"

"These pricks," she grumbled back. "And what should we do now?"

He laughed. _Rory is relaxed_, Falcon thought with surprise. _He seems to like this, damned bagger_. "We do what we always do, sweetheart. We'll piss into their water bottles and tell them that it is orange juice. So, stop now, I've thinks to do, you know, important things like saving world and all this."

With a small grin Falcon deactivated her comm. The return to the Citadel would be interesting.

.

_Conference Room – Freighter Ithaca – leaving the Orbit around Presrop, Century System_

"I demand that Kyle is put into chains until we reach the Citadel. And why haven't we put the other biotics of his commune into the brig?" Kaidan had been fuming since Rory returned with Father Kyle, the ex-Major by all appearances more his guest than his captive.

For a moment Falcon expected Rory to explode and she was ready to jump … away from the imminent battle. But then she saw this smile on his lips, the smile that didn't reach his eyes and showed her how pissed he was. Something must have happened on Presrop, something that made him really and dangerously angry. She felt a cold shudder on her spine and goose bumps on her arms. Someone's death was imminent and she wondered if she really wanted to intervene.

Kaidan was still glaring and shortly Falcon wondered how he could have been working with Rory for months without realizing now how close he was to experience his obvious death wish be fulfilled. Rory's voice was silent and gentle, a mere breeze against the storm of Kaidan's anger: "There will be an examination of the events on Presrop. Father Kyle allowed Shiala to conduct a melting. She will testify on his behalf. Obviously the former delegation did its best to cause problems and start a fight with the members of the commune. They only made the mistake to underestimate the battle prowess of Father Kyle and his sheep flock."

"Bah, you can't really believe this. This is no excuse to murder. And surely you don't believe the ramblings of misled former soldier with religious fantasies."

"Yes, I do. And the Citadel's tribunal will follow my advice to leave the commune alone after hearing Shiala's testimony."

Kaidan fumed, the anger about the events in the Farinata system now pressing for an outlet. "You can't seriously trust the words of an Asari that had been a follower of Saren and lost her mind as …"

Kaidan gurgled as a fist of blue biotic light grabbed his throat and forced him back at the wall, Rory following with lightning speed. Even Falcon didn't see how he pulled his pistol before the muzzle was pressed against Kaidan's forehead. Rory's voice was only a deadly whisper: "Never again speak badly about her, about someone who was willing to sacrifice all of her out of respect and love for a woman she saw as her mentor, spiritual leader and mother. Don't dare to speak against her. There is only a single reason that I don't simply put a bullet thru your brain: I don't want to hurt her and that I would by killing someone in defense of her honor."

Rory stared into Kaidan's eyes, realized that he was still unable to grasp what Rory said, what Rory had done and why. But at least he had the wit to stay silent now. _He doesn't understand_, Rory mused. _He doesn't understand that the Admiralty only used him as a kind of pawn on their chessboard. They expected him to react as he did, expected that he would mess up the negotiations as he did on the Ontario. And I would have allowed him to do so without my experiences around the biotic kidnappers. He would have forced a fight and I would have killed Kyle in self-defense. And after that the other commune members would have come to his aid. I saw their love for him in their eyes. We would have been forced to kill them all, to end this commune once and forever. He doesn't understand_.

"I pity you, Alenko," Rory said with an unexpected softness, ignoring the wide-eyed confusion in Kaidan's eyes. "Falcon, please accompany our guest into his room and make sure that he has no need to leave it before we reach the Citadel. I'll have to speak with Father Kyle."


	13. Chapter 13 To keep up

**To keep up**

.

_Eternity Bar – Illium – 15 months after the battle of the Citadel_

"You're looking quite well, Shiala." Matriarch Aethyta stared intensely at the younger Asari sitting at her counter. Before Aethyta had left Benezia so long ago, she naturally had known her wife's senior acolyte for decades. The marriage between Aethyta and Benezia had lasted nearly a century and most of the time Shiala had been around. It felt quite normal to have her around again even if these happy times were a thing of the past. This was not Shiala's first visit at the Eternity Bar and hopefully not the last. "You're more … balanced than before."

Shiala nodded with a soft smile on her lips. "The work on the Ithaca is helpful. I've found friends there and to train Rory gives me a kind of purpose." Shortly she thought about the silent Ganto, the rough Falcon and the juvenile Lia'Vael. It was a good crew and she was happy to have found this 'family'.

Aethyta continued with drying the glasses, nothing that was really needed but she liked this dull activity sometimes. "He has a similar effect on my daughter, too. When I came to Illium, hearing about her new profession, I feared …"

"That it would change her," Shiala continued. "That she would lose this naivety and become kind of darker."

"Yes," Aethyta agreed, "something like that. I had been a wonderful idea from him to get us connected, even if Liara doesn't know what I am, seeing me only as a 'saloon confessor'. Not that she would share anything important with me but to simply have someone to talk seems to counter the impact of her work."

"So you're still watching her for the Asari government?"

"Yes, I do. Her being Benezia's daughter and involved in the events around Saren … nobody really mistrusts her but we have to be sure."

"I understand. I only wonder why nobody is watching me," Shiala added with an uneasy laugh.

"We would," Aethyta answered earnestly, "if we had the chance to get someone on board of the Ithaca." After some minutes of silence she continued: "Did you know that they exchange messages every few days? Nothing professional, more … you know … silly daily banter. How the night had been or the last meal, which book they read or film they saw. I'm glad he does this, it is really helpful on holding Liara solid on the ground."

Shiala smiled. "Solid on the ground … yes, he has this influence. A bit surprising that someone with his disgust for our race is so positive for us both." She laughed shortly. "Once I asked him about that. He answered along the line: there are many millions of Asari in the galaxy, that there are a handful of less disgusting individuals among them not even counts as an exception to the rule." For a while Shiala played with her empty glass, declining Aethyta to fill it again. "Did you know that in his past someone obviously started to train him in the art of melting? Until now he is unable to start the process itself, but melting with him is easier and more intensive, the exchange of information much better structured. I thought about continuing this training."

"I assume that would be a good idea. But this I didn't know or even suspect. It is uncommon for human training. Do you want me to look into his past? Perhaps I could find some information about him and how he had been trained this way."

Shiala stayed silent, pondering about the idea, but then she shook her head: "No, it is nothing we have to know, it is something personal. Trust is going both ways. I had a hard time proving him that I'm on his side and no danger or traitor. I won't throw that away. If he wants me to know, he'll tell me."

.

_Liara's Bureau – Illium_

"You're a bit absent-minded today, Liara," Rory stated, trying to soothe her mind with a small smile. This was his … he counted silently … his sixth visit to Illium in nine months and he had to admit that he liked these stays. He even liked Illium a bit. The difference to the worlds were he otherwise stayed was very intense. On Illium were culture, beauty and courtesy. Sure, sometimes it was the courtesy of a dishonest trader or a backstabbing politician, but he liked it for a change.

And he liked these moments with Liara. There had always been the fear that she would change, that she would leave behind her soft heart and playful manners. But she seemed to stay mostly the same so far. Rory intended to thank Aethyta for caring about his daughter. His … her … it was quite confusing with Asaris. Human perceived them as females, simply guessing that from their outer appearance. But Aethyta saw him/her as Liara's father. Certainly, he/she was not very feminine. In fact Rory liked Aethyta very much. He liked to talk about her Krogan father and the fight her parents battled which ended in the death of both. To love someone but fighting earnestly nonetheless, fight until death.

_We both love you, Aethyta. Please love the survivor of our duel_. That had been their last message. They had made it easy for her to fulfill their last wish as both died in the fight. The Krogan battle-master and the Asari commando, Rory was unable to figure how their marriage must have been.

He stared at Liara, the young Asari still sitting with her back to him and looking out of the window. She was so young. As Tali'Zorah she had changed in the last 18 months, matured. But still she seemed juvenile sometimes, nearly like a teenager, especially when he convinced her to speak about archaeology. Then her curiosity and enthusiasm took over. She was very different to Shiala, the middle-aged Asari that had become such a worthy member of his crew. Without her he would never had been able to get back his old level of biotic abilities. Mostly back, he had to admit. But while the sheer power still stayed below what he was used to have, her training had helped immensely in fine tuning his powers. Now he was able to use his powers much faster and targeted.

In the last nine months Shiala had been able to recover, recover from her time within the Thorian; recover from the death of Benezia. Now she was balanced again as could be expected from an Asari of her age. But still he sometimes saw this sadness in her eyes and he wondered if she'd ever really overcome the memory of those hurtful months.

"I'm thinking about the files you've got." Liara's sudden words brought Rory back to reality. A few days ago he had been asked by her to do a small favor. She was in need of some information, stored about in hidden files all around Illium.

"Without you I wouldn't be able to get these in my hands, especially not without someone noticing what I'm doing. Now …" She pointed at the notepad. "I have these and … I'm able to choose what I want to do."

Rory rubbed his nose with two fingers thoughtfully. "You could use them to unveil Nyxeris, show your assistant that you know her to be this 'observer' you have been looking for."

"But you don't think this to be the right course," Liara asked with a frown on her beautiful blue face.

Rory shook his head. "No, I think this to be a chance you should use better. An observer you know about is much better than a dead observer replaced by an unknown one a few weeks later."

"So you would propose that I …"

Rory opened the notepad and pointed to one of the files. "Here she is speaking about two criminals, a salarian assassin and a batarian slave trader. Both are persons nobody would miss and about which I wouldn't have any qualms to kill. My proposal: you'll use Nyxeris to help me in finding some nice place for them, telling her that you're sure one of them being the observer. My team will take them out and you'll apparently relax, ordering her to have her eyes open for a possible replacement. After that the show will go on but with you knowing the leak."

"That plan sounds good," Liara agreed, looking quizzically at him. "And you're sure that …"

"Don't hesitate about that. I would do much more to help a good friend."


	14. Chapter 14 Dead or Alive

**Dead or Alive**

_Norrig Spaceport – Bekenstein – 17 months after the battle of the Citadel_

The air in the bodega was nearly cuttable. The smell of cheap brandy lingered everywhere and more than once Rory saw a heap of something that some time ago had been in the stomach of someone. A few of the persons scattered around were sleeping. At least he hoped that they were only sleeping.

He dragged Falcon nearer against his side, his arm protective around her. This diversion of roles wasn't according to their undercover identities but he couldn't help that he felt protective about her. Certainly Falcon would snigger about a remark that she could be in need of a protective hero but to his relief she stayed silent and even put an arm around his hip. Shortly he turned around for a look into her face. It felt weird with the changes Dr. Michel had made. The cheeks were a bit broader, the lips fuller and a scar on her forehead down to her nose gave her a somewhat brutish appearance.

Before he faced the surrounding again his eyes wandered over her cleavage, the shirt she wore more disclosing than veiling what it held. "Do you see anything you like?" Falcon grinned devilishly. Rory responded in kind. "I'll show you later how much I appreciate your outfit." The last two days they spread the rumor that he was a kind of smuggler waiting for a trading partner and she his bodyguard, guarding his body on all levels so to say. Even if their relationship nowadays was one of open friendship, both willing to let the other find his luck in the arms of a loving partner somewhere out there in the galaxy, he had to admit that the last days and especially nights had been a wonderful experience, reminding him on the days they had been together as members of the same team years ago.

They took seats near the wall with an open line of sight to both entrances. While Rory ordered a bottle of the house' finest – surely something he would use only for cleaning on other days – Falcon smiled shortly and waved one of the Asari dancers to join their table. Rory growled shortly and shot Falcon an icy glare before he forced his face to relax and even smile at the dancer. Falcon leaned to his ear: "It is only for show, be a nice guy and enjoy her." Rory gently took her hand, lead it towards his face and kissed her fingers softly: "As my lady commands."

.

_Bureau of Helena Blake – Citadel – one week ago _

"Good evening, Mrs. Blake, I hope you're feeling well tonight as you deserve," Rory bowed slightly and smiled friendly, his expression mostly honest as he really liked her despite her job that normally put Helena Blake on the opposite sight of justice. But more than once she had proved to be honorable and trustworthy. For months she had an eye on Dr. Michel before she joined his crew and even now she was protective about Jenna and her sister.

And again it had been Helena Blake who initiated this meeting. She smiled sweetly at Rory: "A little headache, nothing that couldn't be cured thru a well-performed massage." She gave him an invitational look but Rory shook his head lightly. "I fear this to be something I couldn't help about. Falcon would be … irritated."

"Oh," Helena answered with a hint of amusement, "and I always thought your relation to be … open."

Rory leaned back in his seat. "Normally it is, but she is putting a line when it is about dangerous women," his voice taking a special tune as he spelled the word dangerous.

"Good to know," Helena relaxed, her face showing that the small talk now was coming to an end. "Today I have something quite unusual, unusual this time for me and not for you. Around a month ago a small band of pirates raided a freighter, robbing a case containing some artwork. But they had no time to enjoy their success because one of them decided that it was time to find his own luck. He deserted the pirate crew and made a trip to Bekenstein. His former compatriots are following him now, in the same time trying to evade the troops of the buyer the traitor wants to meet. Now all three parties are playing cowboys and Indians on Bekenstein."

Rory frowned. "This is all very interesting, but …"

"What is your part in this," Helena continued the question. She took a notepad in front of Rory and gave him time to read the files.

With a hint of surprise Rory asked: "Donovan Hock is the buyer?"

"Yes, and according to my information his thugs are running amok to find the deserter, his former crew and especially the leader of the pirates. Look at file 8."

After examining the file and the added pictures Rory looked up: "Seems to be a very dangerous person. I think I even heard about her and her deeds."

"Most likely," Helena agreed. "Let's come to your part in this. I want you to go to Bekenstein and find these pirates and their booty. I'll support you with contacts on Bekenstein but not with muscles. I don't want to start trouble with Donovan Hock, at least not now."

Rory frowned shortly: "Seems to be a standard job, at least for me. But what is your profit in this?"

"There are two conditions for the job. First: I want the case if possible. If it is already in Donovan's hand, then forget about it. But if it is possible for you to lay hand on it, send it my way."

Rory agreed. "I see no problem in that … at least if it is more or less normal artisan handwork. If it is a kind of cultural treasure …"

"Agreed. To my knowledge it won't be but I'm content with your condition. About the other thing: the leader of the pirates is to be captured … alive. This condition is not negotiable."

"And you want this leader as a little present?"

Helena smiled sweetly. "That would be really kind and you still owe me a birthday present."

.

_Norrig Spaceport – Bekenstein_

Falcon leaned toward Rory with a smirk on her face but instead of silly words she whispered: "At the left entrance, that's one of the pirates."

Trying to appear bored, Rory watched the pirate – a man in his late twenties with some fire scars running down his face and left arm and a used looking gun holstered – as he went to the counter and bought some bottles, opening the first instantly and taking a large sip. Two minutes later he slowly went to the entrance again and Rory realized that he wasn't the sole observer. Two men put some money on their table and started to follow. They had been sitting there for a while, only drinking from the same glasses all the time.

Standing up Rory pulled Falcon into his arms and gave her a hearty kiss, pressing her butt with his right hand. He shoved a 5-credit-note in the dancer's top, gave her a wink and dragged Falcon towards the exit. "How stormy you are, my little warrior," Falcon whispered cheeky but only got a smile for an answer.

Slowly they moved thru the masses. This part of the spaceport remained almost dark all the time. Sunshine never reached the ground here and neither the spaceport authorities nor the citizens were willing to spend much money on lanterns. Most of the light came from advertising of all kind around, flickering in red, blue and yellow. Beggars, drunkards, workers, refugees … it was a wild mix of persons around and most of them knew exactly that it was better to ignore all others around them. A too scrutinizing look, a wrong touch or a motion to swift could cause difficulties, perhaps deadly ones.

As they followed the pirate and his two shadows, they more and more walked into calmer parts. To both sides there were warehouses and containers used as flats. "They're calling in reinforcements," Rory heard Lia'Vael's whisper thru his hidden comm. He nodded instinctively, even with her unable to see that. "I'm in position 80 yards northeast of you on a roof. To my right a sharpshooter is settling in," Ganto added seconds later. Rory turned towards Falcon and she nodded. "Good, hold on, wait until my sign."

A short time later the pirate entered one of the warehouses while his two shadows stepped behind some crates. One of them watched the building while the other used a communicator. "Do you think that she is in the warehouse," Falcon asked with a whisper?

Rory shrugged. "It is possible at least. And I have the assumption that his followers hope so too." He pointed towards the men who were whispering now and readying their weapons. "All ready for combat," Rory whispered into his comm and draw his Locust, a weapon he really liked since he got it from Helena Blake some months ago. With great care he fastened a silencer on the barrel and controlled the weapon a last time. "Ready," he asked Falcon, smiling shortly as she nodded?

Instead of an answer she pushed Rory against the wall and ducked behind a pile of crates. Before he could ask Rory heard fast steps hurrying his way and seconds later half a dozen men and woman in full combat armor with automatic weapons came into sight, closing the gap to the two shadows and storming towards the warehouse of the pirates. Two of them shortly stopped and fired smoke grenades thru the windows while the others took positions. Fast smoke became visible and coughing could be heard from within and curses. Some inhabitants smashed the windows and targeted weapons towards the attackers only to be shot in short order by the announced sniper. "Take him out," Rory simply ordered, knowing full well that Ganto knew his duty. Seconds later the fire from above stopped and a new phase started with the pirates in the warehouse trying to exit and their attackers doing all to prevent that.

Rory nodded his agreement as Falcon looked quizzically in his direction. Watching her back, he quitted her content humming with a grin. "Two out, three … the rest is taking cover."

"A second group is incoming from the west," Lia'Vael declared. "I see 4 … no 5 troopers, one of them with a portable rocket thrower."

Rory put a hand on Falcon's shoulder and whispered: "Let's change positions." Wiggling with his fingers he hurried away and towards the second group, leaving the rest of the first to the fast diminishing rest of the pirates.

He had to stop because the way was obstructed by a large pile of junk. "No dawdling," Falcon laughed and followed the wall towards the next passage. As they reached the open place to the left they saw a rocket whistling towards the building. It bore thru a window and exploded a second later. For a moment all went quiet, smoke leaving the warehouse and the noise of a fire in the building being hearable. A cough announced the person that now left the house, a woman within worn military outfit, sunglasses and ultra-short cut hair.

Two of the attacker lifted their weapons, the first going instantly down as Falcon put a bullet thru his brain. The Locust in Rory's hand bucked slightly and nearly inaudibly as he put the second assailant down with two short bursts. From the right the last members of the first group of attackers opened fire on the woman and succeeded in hitting her legs before she turned around and simply crushed them, blue biotics flaring around her body. The leader of group two now had exchanged his rocket thrower for a heavy pistol and threw a grenade towards Rory and Falcon. In midflight the grenade stopped and turned around, went all the way back and stopped over the thrower's head. He had no chance to evade before his own grenade tore him into shreds. "Playful child," Falcon laughed while she killed the last two attackers.

With no resident of the surrounding buildings dumb enough to show him and all attackers and – apart from their leader – all pirates dead the noises died down. Rory holstered his Locust and left it to his team to watch the vicinity. Slowly, his hands raised, he stepped forward and towards the pirate's leader. The woman sat on the ground and clutched her wounded leg, angry looking towards Rory. "I hope you don't expect any thankful words," she spit, adding some colorful curses to her words.

"No," Rory answered with a thin smile, stopping at a distance of three yards where he relaxed a bit and allowed his hands to go down. "I don't expect any thank, I'm only doing my job … Jack." For a split second she looked confused and before she had the time to react, Rory put her out with an intense neural shock. Jack shuddered intensely, her body went rigid long enough to allow Rory to reach her and inject a mixture of anti-biotic serum and very strong sedatives. Holding her by shoulder and head he gently let her slip to the ground and whispered: "I'm sorry, Jack. I know that this isn't fair. But I wouldn't have a chance in an open biotic fight and I'm not going to lose this. Sleep well, little princess."


	15. Chapter 15 New Moon rising

**New Moon rising**

_._

_Medical center – Freighter Ithaca on the way to the citadel_

"You could awaken her." Rory looked up from the screen where he had been studying the findings of the examinations Dr. Michel and Lizbeth Baynham had made with the unconscious biotic. He pondered shortly about the proposal but declined. "It is too dangerous. She is too dangerous. According to your examinations and what I already knew before she is one of the strongest human biotics ever with a destructive temper to match. And I'm not sure that she would allow me to take her out a second time."

"Perhaps you are right," Lizbeth agreed but seemed to be unhappy. "I only would like to speak with her, about her youth and all."

Rory nodded: "I know; I would like that too." Pointing towards the screen he continued: "Dr. Michel's findings are unambiguous. Jack had been mistreated for a long period of time. Since the age of four she has been hurt mentally and bodily on a regular basis and crammed with medicine and psychotropic drugs of all kind. Obviously someone wanted this outcome, wanted her to be this strong, even if I'm hardly able to believe that he wanted her this aggressive and uncontrollable."

"But it doesn't feel right, isn't it?" Lizbeth asked softly.

Rory sighed: "I simply … I simply feel that she deserves some peace, you know? To be able to recover. I know that she is a destructive criminal and all but …"

Lizbeth placed a hand on his shoulder and pressed it slightly. Rory looked at her, pondering about how the young scientist had matured in the last six months on board working with Shiala and Dr. Michel. He padded her hand to show that he was alright.

"But you won't change your plan to deliver her to Mrs. Blake?"

Rory flinched shortly. "A contract is a contract. I don't like it but Mrs. Blake had been trustworthy so far, I don't scheme to disappoint her. But I'll ask her about her plans with Jack."

.

_Somewhere_

He put his glass aside, the cigar still clutched between his fingers, as he activated the comm. The Asian face on the screen, partially hidden thru a black mask, was well known to him as was the voice.

"The package is on the way. It should arrive at the prison of Purgatory in three days. The director and his men will make sure that she doesn't enjoy her stage there. She should be ready for her 'rescue' in time."

He nodded shortly, taking a drag from his cigar before he answered: "Good to hear, I'm content so far. Make sure that she will only be hurt by the prison guards, not injured. We don't want any permanent damage."

The Asian bowed shortly and he ended the transmission.

.

_Captain's Quarters – Freighter Ithaca on the way to Terra Nova_

"It is an incredible endeavor, isn't it?" Shiala smiled at the words and especially the intonation of Lizbeth. It was not hard to realize the excitement she felt, like a young girl undertaking a school excursion. She was happy that they had the time for the side-trip and that Rory had been willing to give in. Not that she would have expected him to behave otherwise. As he had promised to Lizbeth's mother, Rory always went great lengths to allow the young scientist the possible maximum of time for her own projects. And as Shiala was feeling like a kind of surrogate mother towards her, so he seemed to almost naturally fill the role of a father figure despite the insignificant difference in age.

A little intrigued she watched Rory putting this strange meal on their dishes. How had he called these worm-like things? Spaghetti, yes, this had been the name. Shiala wasn't sure if she really should try this one. The sauce he held ready seemed like thick blood with some shreds in it. And the cheese … he said it had to be grated with that grater over there. Grate the cheese with the grater; that sounded almost sillier than the rest. At least the salad seemed to be a bit more traditional. Before she could decline Rory put a large portion of spaghetti on her dish and shot a smile friendly and open enough to quench any resistance. A fast look around told her that Lizbeth and Tamara seemed to enjoy the meal and even Lia was eager to give it a try. When the Quarian was willing to risk some allergic reactions eating this, how could she decline?

She leaned back against the back of chair and sighed, allowing a wave of content to swing thru her body. Shiala liked to be here, to be part of 'Rory's Ladies' Club' as she called it internally. It had become a kind of custom to meet for a common dinner, everybody in turn cooking. Normally all four were attending: Lia, Shiala, Lizbeth and Tamara. Tamara … Shiala hastily looked back to the meal. She was the only one of them that sometimes would have these meals alone with Rory. It was a well-known secret that Tamara and Rory shared more than the friendship the other ladies had. 'Friends with Benefits', she knew the designation; found it amusing from the start.

A little bit of jealousy she felt as she thought about it. It was kind of unfair to think so. From her melting with Rory she knew about Ash and his unrequited feelings towards her, even if he tried to veil these private things. She should not begrudge him some happy moments with a beautiful woman that obviously liked him so much. And then there was his willingness to help Shiala overcome her past. Spending much time with her in training and simply speaking Rory had been able to soothe her mind in the past months. The nightmares were scarcer now and less intense. And most of the time she was able to lead a more or less normal life, at least as long as she imagined a life without other Asari to be normal.

The clang of Rory's spoon against her dish brought Shiala back from her daydreams. He pointed towards the meal: "You have waited long enough. You see, Shiala, we're all still alive, you may eat now." With a grin he turned to Lizbeth: "You were just starting to rave about this endeavor, Lizbeth."

He winced as her punch hit his shoulder. "Ouch, what was this for?"

"Stop whining, little boy," Tamara interjected.

"Little boy? That's hardly the correct address for your demanding commanding officer," Rory growled back which did nothing to impress her.

"Oh, how so? Ganto is not around, isn't he?" She turned around searching, even looking under the table. "No, no Ganto attending."

"Pfa, you're a bad cruel woman."

Tamara only showed a deep smile: "That's why you love me so without bonds, Rory."

"Hrumpf, I'm not sure about that part. Perhaps I should think about some airlock incident of yours."

Ignoring the little squabble Shiala leaned towards Lizbeth: "Please repeat why we're going to Terra Nova."

With full enthusiasm Lizbeth started to explain: "Terra Nova was settled in 2150 and is the first colony beyond the Charon Relay. It currently has the highest population of any Alliance colony, around four million people. Its wealth stems from large platinum deposits, used for hydrogen cells of private vehicles. The capital is Scott. Naturally Terra Nova has no satellites. This is to be changed now. There is a project running to bring a large asteroid called X57 into an orbit around Terra Nova. They use some fusion torches to propel the satellite. In around twenty-four hours X57 should reach its destination and I want to see that: the rising of a new moon."

.

_CIC Freighter Ithaca – entering Asgard System_

An hour ago the Ithaca had entered the Asgard system. Despite its importance there weren't many ships around. Rory knew that Lizbeth would be in her lab happy as a child on Christmas Eve preparing all kind of things for the special moment. He understood her anticipation. Something like this didn't happen very often and perhaps it would be her only chance to watch such an endeavor for years to come.

With a smile he turned to his workstation, adjusting some sensors. He wanted to help her to get as much data about X57 as possible while Lizbeth was preparing to take snapshots and video tapes about it all. Something got his attention, something weird. What had it been? A bit nervous he looked around, started anew with carefully staring at every single display for some seconds, trying to grasp what his subconscious wanted to tell him. And then he paled.

He gulped, tried to calm his voice and activated the comm: "Lia'Vael, I need your help for a moment. Please make a scan about X57. Do it now."

"Roger that," Lia'Vael simply responded, going instantly at work. It didn't take her long to find what Rory was troubled about. "Rory, there is a strange …"

"You see it too, Lia," Rory asked with barely constrained concern?

"Yes, course and velocity are wrong. And the asteroid is still accelerating. It should be decelerating now."

"Make a calculation of the outcome," Rory demanded, going to do the same work at once. He hadn't to wait for long before Lia'Vael confirmed his suspicion.

"With the current course and acceleration of X57 the asteroid will reach Terra Nova in around four hours. It won't go in an orbit but instead smash right into the planet. The impact site will be near enough Scott to destroy the capital and the major resident zone around."

"Understood," Rory gasped. He had known it but some small ghost in his heart had hoped for another answer. More than three quarters of Terra Nova's population lived in the zone around Scott. More than three million lives. There was absolutely no chance to save them, to evacuate them in time. He opened a channel:

"Ground team prepare for immediate mission."


	16. Chapter 16 New Moon falling

**New Moon falling**

_CIC Freighter Ithaca – nearing asteroid X57_

"… We have everything under control. Please stay away. Nearing the asteroid in this phase may have disastrous consequences."

They had been nearing the asteroid in the last thirty minutes and the last of those a member of the fusion torch crew named Aaron Bowman had tried to persuade them to stay away. "I understand, good luck Mr. Bowman," Rory answered before he ended the transmission and turned around.

"He is terribly frightened," Ganto simply stated.

Rory agreed: "I assume there was someone aiming a gun at his head or threatening his crew. Irrelevant, we'll go down. I'll go with Shiala, Lia and Falcon. You follow with Jenkins and every technician we can spare. On my sign that the torch is clear you'll have to shut it down. You disagree, Lia?" He turned around as he sensed her uneasiness.

"Yes, simply shutting down the torches would only diminish the velocity of its impact. Depending on the time you need to reach all three it might be enough but I would suggest that instead we only alter the direction of the torches output. Changing this we could alter the direction of the asteroid's flight and it would miss Terra Nova completely."

"I understand and agree. Do the necessary calculations and give them to Ithaca's engineering crew."

.

_X57 – near the southern fusion torch_

"I have a signal 500 yards west of the torch. It seems to be a destroyed M29 Grizzly."

Without waiting for a command of Rory, Falcon followed Lia'Vael's hint and changed the course of the MAKO. For a moment Rory grinned. Falcon really knew him to well. So far they hadn't seen anything unusual but something must have destroyed the vehicle. Bison had been the alliance standard vehicles for more than 20 years. Minutes later they stopped beside the burned out vehicle. A single body was crumpled to the ground nearby, a technician as it seemed, not a soldier.

"He's been shot," Shiala stated after a short inspection. "Big caliber, pistol near distance, I assume." She raised a plastic card. "Engineer second class Slajs he had been."

"Take the card and let's go," Rory ordered with a clipped voice.

Leaving the MAKO behind them they crossed the last ridge and looked down towards the fusion torch. Near the engine were a small number of buildings and some movement caught Rory's attention. "Batarians," he hissed, staring at two of the four-eyed bastards that were just escorting a single shackled human towards the main building. Only seconds later they hurried towards the terrified man who stared wide-eyed at his two former captors, now lying on the ground with bullets from Rory's and Falcon's sniper rifles thru their heads.

Realizing that the team wasn't batarian but a mix of Human, Asari and Quarian, he gave in to his buckling knees and sank on the stony ground.

"Hurry up! Who are you and what happened?" Rory demanded not being in the mood to be nice.

"I'm Simon Atwell. I'm an engineer of the torches' crew. A few hours ago a batarian ship landed and they began to take over the facility. They plan to crash the asteroid on Terra Nova. You must stop them, you simply must."

Rory put a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "This is the plan. I assume these Batarians have captured your crew and forced them to cooperate?"

"More or less, yes they have. Most of them are in the main facility now. But …" he hesitated shortly. "They have some technicians themselves and they seemed to be able to get around without us. I hate to admit it but my impression had been that they have some Intel about us and how the torches are working."

Rory stored that information away for later use. Now wasn't the time to think about some spy or similar things that could be the reason for the Batarians' knowledge.

"I need your help, Simon. We want to alter the direction of the torches output. You'll escort my technician team and help them."

.

Carefully they neared the third fusion torch. Rory sensed the time running out, felt the urge to hurry on, the picture of an asteroid crashing down on Terra Nova and killing millions of humans in his mind. But they had to be careful. A single misstep could lead to a catastrophe. The first torch had been easy to shut down with surprise being on their side. A handful of Batarians and a pack of Varren had been defending the station but they hadn't been a challenge for his team.

Then they reached the second torch. This time the batarian terrorists had been prepared. They had activated two defense turrets and protected the entrance with a number of mines. They had to fight for every step and lost many precious minutes before the last defender went down and his technicians under Simon's supervision could start their work between the corpses of a dozen Batarians and a handful of murdered human technicians.

And now he stared down towards the last torch. A few minutes ago they had received signals of three Grizzly vehicles and a dozen Batarians reaching the station. Rory assumed that until now the Batarian leader had decided to defend this last torch at all costs. At least he didn't seemed to be very tactical minded because in his place Rory would have sent a team to the first torch. A forceful executed counter-attack could succeed in pushing back Ganto's team and redirect the torch. Not that he was about to complain.

.

"This takes far too long," Lia'Vael complained.

For a moment an angry response was on Rory's lips but he held it back, knowing her to be right. They had been able to take out the turrets around the station and Lia used her Omni tool to clear a path thru the mines towards the entrance. But now they were riveted to the spot with a dozen Batarians in front of them, most of them shock troopers but also at least three lesser biotics between. There wasn't any path to circumvent them and he feared that it would cost them far too long to push thru without losses.

"We could try to hack the connection between the station and the torch. I should be able to shut the torch down," Lia proposed, but Rory declined: "We need to redirect the torch. And we can't be sure that you'll have success. No, we have to make a breakthrough her."

After a short agreement Falcon, Lia and Shiala did their best to distract the Batarians. Some smoke grenades veiled most movements, biotically hurled caskets created enough noise to hide any steps and two a bit too brave enemies were taken out by Falcon's headshots before Rory activated his stealth system and hurried down the corridor, sending prayers to the Goddess that he wasn't hit by any stray salvos.

He nearly made it, but then two things happened. Rory passed a workstation and saw at the edge of his visual field how a Batarian startled and followed the outline of Rory's stealth shield with a glare of his four eyes. And he nearly stumbled as a lone Batarian trooper left his cover in front of Rory and raised his assault rifle to answer Falcon's fire. Without a second thought Rory went to the ground, a single salvo of the Batarian at the workstation hitting the wall beside him. Using his biotics he grabbed his enemy and hurled him towards the second Batarian, hoping the whole time that nobody would react fast enough to his now visible and coverless body.

Naturally he wasn't so lucky. After a moment of shock several Batarians aimed at him, some of them even leaving their cover to get a better line of sight. A loud crack escorted the case that Shiala threw with her biotics against a Batarian's neck. A second went down with a bullet thru his sternum and a third hastily went back behind cover as Lia opened fire with her own SMG. But the rest opened fire and only his shields and fast reflexes allowed him to survive the next seconds as he rolled on the ground back and forth like a lunatic. Slowly, one after the other, the Batarians went down, taken out by his team while Rory's shield quit function at last and the first rounds hit his armor, pierced his right arm and scratched his legs. He even rolled around some more seconds after the last shot found his target and everything was quiet again, his team members slowly and a bit unwilling to believe that the fight was over left their cover.

"Good distraction, Rory," Falcon stated with a broad grin and Shiala added: "Should we call this maneuver 'Crazy Rory' from now on? In case we need it again I mean."

The word "Bitches" Rory said as an answer was low enough to allow the women to act as if they hadn't heard him but their smiles gave them away. Hastily Rory called in Ganto's team and waited – far too long for his liking – for the answer to his question: had they been fast enough?


	17. Chapter 17 Epilogue kind of

_**Author:**_

_**Nearing the end of part 2 of my Shepard/Udina Cycle I hope that you enjoyed the story so far. I would really like to see some reaction to my story (yes, this is partly the usual beg for reviews). Especially I would appreciate some constructive critic. What was good, what bad? Am I too crisply in the descriptions, would you like to read more about the fights (something I very often circumvent so far), are the characters believable? Would you like to read more about some special character or romance/friendship? **_

_**And because I'm not an English native speaker: do you see any reoccurring errors in my writings, not-so-English idioms or words that I use in the wrong context? I hope to slowly improve my writing style but without hints this is very difficult.**_

.

**Epilogue (kind of)**

.

_Citadel – Near the Presidium – 2 weeks after the X57 incident_

The sight of Rear Admiral Kahoku vanishing down the elevator, the notepad still clutched in his hands, gave Rory the collywobbles. He could only hope that it had been the right decision to leave the examinations about the background of the X57-incident to the Admiral. Not that he had qualms about the integrity of the flag officer, but he had a bad feeling about the danger he put him in with this information.

What a relief had it been after the alteration of torch three to hear these words from Lizbeth: "We were fast enough; the asteroid will miss the planet."

With only his team around him Rory had allowed his legs to give away, crumbled to the ground and showed his brightest smile. At least until Tamara crashed into him, made a rip-bending hug and wounded his lips with a most forceful kiss. Shiala and Lia'Vael had been a bit more reserved, but not much. Millions, they had saved millions of lives with their mission. And it wasn't the usual anonymous account but this knowledge of saving every single inhabitant of Scott and the area around. If he really wanted he could go around in Scott and point to every single citizen and say to himself: _you, I've saved your life_. Not that Rory wanted to do such a thing but it was a new experience and now he felt his body relax, sensed the former tension disappearing.

But how fast this complete joy had been tainted, had got a negative connotation? Leaving the torches behind they neared the central station were the largest group of technicians was waiting. But they hadn't been alone. The leader of the Batarians and some of his men were waiting too. And they hadn't been eager to get killed or imprisoned but held the Humans and Quarians of the crew in custody, blackmailing Rory to allow their ship to land and evacuate these murderers. Perhaps he should have shot them. Perhaps someday he would regret their escape. Goddess, he already regretted it. But it had been the sole chance to save the crew. And these technicians deserved another chance, deserved their lives. And so he gave in. The Batarians escaped but the crewmembers survived, at least most of them.

Aaron Bowman, the man he had been speaking with in the landing phase: they found him dead in the arms of his crying sister Kate. The young engineer had hurled herself against Rory's breast and hit him several times with her small fists. He had hugged her, gave her time for her sorrow. She reminded him of Liara and the Asari's grief about her mother. While Ganto led the first examinations in the station, Rory used the time to speak with Kate, tried to calm her, spoke with her about the events and the Batarians. He had been able to soothe her, at least he hoped so. But her example was one of the reasons why he stood here, why he was on the way to her, to Emily Wong.

Ganto had found some information in his examinations that was disturbing to say the least. As Simon Atwell had already been hinting in their first meeting, the Batarians had been in the possession of blueprints for all parts of the stations. On a notepad he found descriptions of the workings of the torches, how they had to be handled and there were files with computer and security codes. The information had been way to encompassing to explain them without a helper from within. At least one crew member had been willing to work for the Batarians.

The first inquiries had fizzled out as some crewmembers and two of the scientists that had initiated the whole project died within days mysteriously. Someone tried very successful to blur the hints and Rory had only one explanation for this: someone had planned all this, planned to prepare a weapon for Batarian terrorists to exterminate a whole planet's population. Who could be willing to do this? It had to be someone who was interested in sparking a fire of racism, to initiate a war between Humans and Batarians. He hadn't explained these conclusions to Kahoku but only to Ganto, Shiala and Jondum Bau, the three people he trusted enough. That none of them was a human could be interpreted as a kind of a sign but in the moment he wasn't willing to think about it.

But he had drawn another conclusion: he had to be more offensive in creating peace and harmony between the races. He was a human Spectre, a kind of symbolic figure, not only for Humans but also towards other races as a representative of his race. And with his mixed crew he could make a sign, show that teamwork between the races obtained the most favorable results. They had been in a similar situation with the Normandy Crew but back then they hadn't been able, willing or simply thinking about the importance. He promised himself to do better this time.

After his return to the Citadel he had been in the situation to choose with whom he wanted to speak, which reporter would be the one to get his story. But he had chosen Emily Wong, the one reporter he trusted since their cooperation in the time of the Saren conflict. Something like this wasn't her usual kind of work but neither she nor her chief editor had hesitated for a second as he made a very unusual proposal. Not only would he make a short interview. Not only would he allow her to speak with his crew. No, additionally he gave her material from the mission. Video tapes, comm tapes, sensor files and all other things she needed to make a one-hour-reportage about the events on X57, starting with the idea of Lizbeth to go there – showing how a small idea was the start of this all – up to the decisions to save the crew.

Rory knew full well that this would be Emily's journalistic breakthrough and that he made many enemies around other journalists. But only this way he was able to blackmail Emily's station to adhere to his other conditions. For the first part they had to explain in their reportage how important all members of his crew had been; that it hadn't been a One-Spectre-Show but teamwork of Humans, Salarians, an Asari and a Quarian. And then he expected further stories about Quarians: the meaning of their pilgrimage, how they lived since their great error with the Geth; how they were treated even on the Citadel; and what they have done from Lia'Vael's part with the X57 up to Tali'Zorah's rescue of the council one year ago. He didn't expect a total change thru a few pictures and words but he wanted to make a start.

.

_Emily Wong's recording studio_

"Thank you for this interview, Spectre Udina," the reporter smiled as Rory bowed and gave her a kiss on the hand. "Oh, I nearly forgot," she added hastily and grabbed a picture from her desk. "Only an hour ago I received this picture from the administration of Terra Nova. As expected and certainly well-deserved they planned to place a memorial statue in front of the town hall of Scott, depicting the saviors. I heard that you made some conditions about the memorial and I wanted to ask you to explain."

Rory nodded, already a bit exhausted from the long interview but determined to give his best. "You see six figures on the memorial. The specialty is that they aren't showing individuals but types. The faces are almost bland and genderless apart from the two figures in the front. These are Kate Bowman holding her dying brother Aaron as a symbol of the crew giving all, even their life. And do you see how Kate is looking upwards to the stars? It is a look not only of sorrow but also of hope that this sacrifice was not in vain. And behind them you see one member of the four races that helped in the mission: Salarian, Human, Quarian and Asari. All of them were part of the events and every single one had been important. I know that it is my face that is shown most often, but every one of them saved my life at least once out there. It had been teamwork."

Emily displayed the picture on-screen, allowing Rory some seconds to recover before she shot her last question, one he had known before and long thought about. "Rory, I have a last question. Thinking about the events and how they had been possible to take place: what is your resume, what is it that you pick up for your future, what would you advise our onlookers?"

"This is a very difficult question, Emily, but I hope that I have a satisfying answer or at least the beginning of a satisfying answer for you. These events happened because of misunderstanding, racism and hate. Many people fear other races and this fear creates hate. Old memories die hard and more than one old soldier is unable to forget the Turian-Human war or the conflicts between Batarians and Humans. Many people have qualms about the Asari. They don't understand them and are jealous about their knowledge, their longevity and their appearance."

A very small smile crept on his lips before he continued. Rory kneaded his fingers and hesitated for a moment. "It is only … human … to feel like that. Not only human it is but also turian, quarian or asari. Every one of us has it in him or her, this fear of the unknown. You know me well, Emily. I'm not a saint myself. Even I have … reservations. More than once I behaved … unfriendly towards Councilor Tevos, criticized her … not because of her doings or words but simply because she is an Asari."

Emily didn't interrupt him but only smiled softly and nodded encouragement. "We all have our prejudices. The first may hate the Turians because he lost his father in the war. The second despises Batarians for their customs of slavery. I have difficulties to behave friendly towards Asari. And many others fear humanity, think us to be too aggressive. We all need to learn to live with these prejudices, to understand them and how they develop. And we need to realize that we can't allow them to dictate us how we live, how we act and what we do.

One of my best friends is a Turian; my second-in-command is a Salarian; both in my current crew as on the Normandy I worked closely with a quarian technician; both times an Asari scientist had been a valuable crewmember. And someday there will be a Batarian to join the party. This is my hope."

Rory turned to the camera and stared intensely into the optic. "You wanted an advice for our onlookers. This it is: you don't have to love Batarians after this event; I don't expect you to embrace the next Batarian on the street, to invite him in your house and certainly not to simply accept all aspects of their lifestyle without qualms. But please, don't hate them because what a few of them did. Most Batarians live simple life as you and I. They are fathers, mothers and children, they have fears and hopes. Don't allow terrorists and extremists on both sides to dictate how you live."

.

_Somewhere_

As the screen darkened the Asian turned around with hate on his face: "Bullshit. We should kill this bastard before he propagates more of this nonsense." He sighed. "At least all hints of our … involvement … had been destroyed. Everyone that knew of us is dead now."

His conversational partner nodded. "Good, it would be counterproductive otherwise. But I don't share your opinion about Udina. He is a natural talent as a speaker. He is able to touch the hearts and he is a kind of hero, now more than ever. We should try to persuade him to join our course before we decide to … neutralize him." He turned around and looked at the freeze image of Rory, dipping his fingertips against his lips as he pondered about the idea. He had to find a way.

_**Author:**_

_**This is the end of part 2. I'll continue with part 3 "Hero reborn" about the events of ME2 in a few days. I hope to see you again.**_


	18. Chapter 18 Summary

**Summary of "We are family"**

_This summary is meant to help if you want to read the later parts of this story. It only lists that information which is special, for example decisions that have to be made in the adventure or things that normally wouldn't happen (especially about the surviving of some npcs). _

"_We are family" describes the events from immediately after the Battle of the Citadel (ME1) until the time six months before Shepard's awakening (ME2). It is a sequel to "Two Coins" and prequel to "Hero reborn"._

.

**Part 1: Udina's Recovery**

To recover from the wounds he took on Virmire the Spectre Rory Udina (nephew of Ambassador Udina) is brought to a STG medical center on the salarian home world Sur'Kesh. He is held in artificial coma and has dire nightmares about the events seven years ago, as he had a car accident which caused the death of his sister Cathleen.

This enhanced brain activity endangered his recovery. Ganto Imness (STG officer and rescued thru Rory on Virmire) convinced Spectre Jondum Bau and the STG officials to allow a visit of Rory's mother. After that the recovery went on much more smoothly.

The required operations, especially the new artificial nerves, led to an enhanced reaction time of Rory but diminished his biotic abilities.

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**Part 2: Udina's Crew**

Spectre Rory Udina, no more member of the Alliance Navy, was given command of the Ithaca, an armored freighter, for his missions (officially a joint venture of Salarians and Humans like the Turian/Human-Normandy but on a lesser scale) and started to gather a crew:

Lieutenant Commander Ganto Imness, Salarian STG-Officer and XO

Second Lieutenant Tamara Brant, Codename Falcon, Human Marine Sharpshooter

Shiala, Asari Scientist and Biotic, former acolyte of Benezia

Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, Quarian Technician, on her pilgrimage

Sergeant Jenkins, Human Marine

Dr. Michel, Human Physician

Lizbeth Baynham, Human Scientist

Most other positions on board were filled with Salarians.

_Author's note: Tamara aka Falcon is my own character, all others you'll find in the ME-wiki and are part of ME1 and/or ME2_

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**Part 3: Shepard's Death**

After a short visit to Ilos where they found the VI Vigil destroyed, Shepard led the Normandy on an investigation near Alchera. They were ambushed by a Collector ship, the Normandy was destroyed and Shepard killed. Before a recovery mission under the command of Kaidan Alenko reached Alchera a group of Blue Sons scavenged the site and found the corpse of Shepard. They brought him to Omega and started an auction.

_Author's note:_

_I didn't want to rewrite the events around Liara and Shepard's body. If you want to read about that search for the comic "Mass effect: Redemption". The only change I made so far was that Liara was not alone but had Garrus accompanying her. _

The surviving crewmembers parted ways:

Liara: information broker on Illium

Garrus: working as a mercenary on Omega, partly for Aria, in conflict with Blue Suns

Tali'Zorah: back at the Quarian Flotilla

Wrex: back on Tuchanka

Kaidan Alenko, promoted to Lieutenant Commander, serving as a special agent for the admiralty

Engineer Adams: as instructor on Earth

Dr. Chakwas: working in a medical center on Mars

Joker: stranded on Earth

Ashley Williams: promoted to First Lieutenant and undergoing N7-Training, serving on the TSS Batavia (a ship working in the Terminus systems, giving technical help to human settlements) as Ground Operations Leader under the command of Rear Admiral Kahoku

Ashley learned from Councilor Anderson that she didn't owe her promotion to commissioned officer and her admission to N7-training to the support of Shepard (whom she still loved) but the circumstance that Rory Udina more or less blackmailed (with the Luna mission) Admiral Hacket in treading her fairly and only following her performances, disregarding her family name.

Udina visited Garrus and Liara. On Illium he got to know (thru Shiala) the Asari bartender Aethyta, Liara's father. He started a tight mail contact with Liara.

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**Part 4: Udina's Missions**

Udina's crew executed some missions, most of them about battling smugglers or crime lords in the outer parts of Citadel space.

On a double mission fighting biotic terrorists and extremists he was forced to cooperate with Kaidan Alenko. This led to further tensions between Udina and Alenko, especially because he was able (with the support of Shiala) to convince the jury on the Citadel that the human admiralty started the conflict with "Father Kyle" and tried to put the blame on him.

Udina helped Liara to identify the observer (an agent of the Shadowbroker), but convinced Liara to spare her life to be able to control the information flow.

On Bekenstein Udina's crew intervened in a conflict between Donovan Hock's men and a group of pirates under the leadership of Jack. He arrested her.

_Author's hint: Unknown to him this led to Jack hold in custody on purgatory following the plans of Cerberus._

In the Asgard system the crew was able to stop Batarian terrorists that tried to exterminate the Terra Nova settlement with the asteroid X57. The Batarian Leader is able to escape. There were hints about a human party that planned the whole disaster to spark a war between Humans and Batarians.

The story ended with Rory Udina giving an interview to Emily Wong, speaking about the cooperation between the races and his hope of a real peace between Humans and Batarians.


End file.
